Hindu woman duped into marriage by married Muslim man, tortured for conversion and forced to eat beef

Case ID : e27539d | Location : Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India | Date of Incident : Fri, 7 September, 2012

Case ID : e27539d

Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India

7 September, 2012

Hindu woman duped into marriage by married Muslim man, tortured for conversion and forced to eat beef

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Forced conversion after marriage

Forced to eat beef

Assault or threat upon refusal to convert

Case Summary

A Hindu woman named Soma from Bagunnagar, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, was deceived into marriage by a Muslim man, Mohd Farid, in 2012. Farid concealed the fact that he was already married to a woman named Anisha and had two children. After Soma became pregnant a year later, Farid took her to his home. Before the marriage, she made it clear that she would neither convert to Islam nor eat beef. But at his home, she was subjected to abuse and pressure to convert to Islam. Anisha, his first wife, forcibly fed beef to the victim and beat her multiple times in an attempt to make her abandon her faith and adopt Muslim practices. Soma was treated like a servant in her in-laws’ house and received no support from Farid. Eventually, she managed to return to her maternal home under the pretext of illness and refused to go back. On 8 September 2025, Farid’s son Shahnawaz, acting on his mother Anisha's orders, along with Farid's mother, went to Bagunnagar to take Soma back by force. He verbally abused her, dragged her outside, and threw her to the ground, leading to a commotion in the locality. Residents intervened and called the police, who arrived promptly at the scene. Seeking protection, Soma approached the Sidgoda police station with the support of Vishwa Hindu Parishad officials, including Arun Singh, and lodged a formal complaint detailing years of abuse and religious coercion. The police assured her safety and pledged legal action. In solidarity, VHP leaders and workers gathered at the police station, demanding justice and security for Soma.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The primary category in this case is: Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. The subcategory under this is: Forced conversion after marriage. The tertiary category under this: Forced to eat beef. In such cases, a non-Hindu man marries a Hindu woman, and the force/pressure to convert to Islam begins after marriage. In such cases, typically, two patterns emerge. First, when the relationship is consensual, and the religious identity of the perpetrator is known to the Hindu woman in the relationship. The marriage could be under the Special Marriages Act, where neither parties are required to convert their religion for the marriage to be considered legitimate. While the victim in such cases enters matrimony assuming that religious identity is not a barrier, the non-Hindu man starts to pressure the woman to convert to Islam after marriage. The second is when the woman gets into a marriage with the man pretending to share her faith. Later, when the truth is revealed, the man starts pressuring the woman to convert her religion and give up her religious identity. In both situations, there is application of force by the perpetrator, including the denial of the woman’s religious rights. Some of the means by which the woman is forced/pressured to convert include force-feeding beef, being forced to read the Kalma, being forced to wear a hijab, forced to undergo Halala, etc. There are several instances where, after marriage, the woman voluntarily converts to Islam. Such cases are often argued to be a result of religious brainwashing, however, for the purpose of documenting religiously motivated hate crimes, in the absence of the victim complaining of forced conversion, such cases do not form a part of the database. Another subcategory under this is: Assault or threat upon refusal to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman faces threats or assault after she refuses to convert and change her religious identity owing to pressure/force by the non-Hindu man. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu man known to the victim. Somewhere along the relationship, the non-Hindu man starts pressurising the Hindu woman to convert to Islam and upon her refusal, assaults or threatens the victim. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. Cases where the Hindu woman converts to Islam and does not file a complaint about the force or threat, are not considered a part of the hate tracker, even though, it may be argued that the woman was brainwashed or threatened to convert to Islam. This case has been added to the tracker as it demonstrates a deliberate and systematic attempt to target a Hindu woman for religious conversion through deception, coercion, and physical abuse, making it a clear instance of a hate crime against Hindus. Soma entered into the marriage without knowledge of Mohd Farid’s marital status, as he concealed that he was already married to a woman named Anisha and had two children. The deception itself set the foundation for a calculated abuse of her trust and autonomy. After she became pregnant, Farid took her to his home, where the abuse escalated, revealing a premeditated plan to isolate and dominate her. Significantly, Soma had explicitly stated before marriage that she would not convert to Islam and would not eat beef, setting clear personal boundaries regarding her faith. However, these conditions were not respected; instead, she was subjected to systematic efforts to break her religious resolve. She was coerced into adopting Islamic practices and was repeatedly pressured to abandon her Hindu identity. Anisha, Farid’s first wife, played an active role in the abuse, forcibly feeding Soma beef and physically assaulting her to compel her conversion. Forcing a Hindu to consume beef is not only a profound disrespect to their religious beliefs but also constitutes a religiously motivated hate crime. In Hinduism, cows are revered as sacred animals, symbolising life and sustenance, and the act of consuming beef is considered highly sacrilegious by many Hindus. Therefore, compelling a Hindu to eat beef goes beyond mere dietary imposition; it is an intentional violation of their religious principles and an assault on their cultural and spiritual identity. In the broader context of hate crimes, forcing someone to engage in behaviour that is expressly forbidden or offensive in their religion is a clear manifestation of religious intolerance. It demonstrates a blatant disregard for the victim's rights to practice their faith freely. Here, the actions of the perpetrator clearly point towards the deep disdain he harboured for Hindus and their religious beliefs. It is evident that the perpetrator targeted the victim because of her religious identity and that his motivation was driven by religious hate. Soma’s treatment in her marital home further demonstrates the religiously motivated nature of this abuse. She was denied dignity and treated as a servant, with no support from Farid, and subjected to consistent religious coercion. The abuse she endured was not incidental but deeply rooted in her refusal to abandon her Hindu faith. This makes it clear that she was not simply a victim of domestic violence; rather, she was targeted explicitly for her religion. Her eventual escape to her maternal home under the pretext of illness underscores the severity of the oppression she faced. Even after she managed to return home, Farid’s family continued their attempts to control and intimidate her, as seen in the September 8 incident, where Farid’s son Shahnawaz and his mother arrived at Soma’s home to forcibly take her back. The use of physical violence and threats to reassert control over her illustrates a pattern of religiously motivated intimidation aimed at suppressing her autonomy and ensuring her compliance with Islamic practices. This case reflects a broader pattern documented by the Hinduphobia Tracker, in which Hindu women are targeted through deceptive marriages or relationships, followed by pressure to convert, often enforced through physical violence, humiliation, and psychological manipulation. The central focus of the abuse was Soma’s Hindu identity, as evidenced by her explicit refusal to convert before marriage, which was ignored and overridden by Farid and his family. Forcing her to consume beef, a deeply offensive act for practising Hindus, further demonstrates that this was not merely a case of domestic abuse but a targeted attack on her faith. Despite the personal dynamics of marriage and family, the motivations in this case transcend interpersonal conflict and reflect systemic patterns of religious hatred and coercion. Farid’s deception, his family’s participation in Soma’s abuse, and their attempts to forcibly impose Islamic practices upon her point to a deliberate effort to subjugate her faith and identity. Such acts qualify as religiously motivated hate crimes, as they violate Soma’s freedom to practice her religion and undermine her dignity as a Hindu woman. Disclaimer: None of the media reports covering this case specifies the exact date when Soma’s ordeal began. Based on her testimony, the abuse and coercion started soon after her marriage to Mohd Farid in 2012, with the situation escalating after she became pregnant a year later and was taken to his home. Since Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when the victim’s ordeal began, rather than when they were reported, we have marked the date of the incident as 08 September 2012, exactly 13 years before the matter was formally reported and came to light in September 2025.