Case Summary

In Ghaziabad’s Loni area, 18-year-old Hindu youth Ujjwal Kumar was deceived, converted to Islam, and compelled to marry a 35-year-old Muslim woman. Reports state that the victim was taken to a mosque in Hyderabad, where the conversion and marriage were carried out under coercion. The woman’s father himself performed the role of the maulvi during the nikah, while her brother served as the witness. The Muslim woman's family deliberately kept the ceremony closed to outsiders and even withheld the name of the mosque where it took place. According to the victim's mother Kiran Devi, her son lived at home until February 2025, but his visits gradually became infrequent. When he did come home, he never mentioned anything about converting his faith. Later, she discovered that Ujjwal was secretly living in a flat with a woman identified as Mariam, a 35-year-old divorced Muslim woman who had initially come into contact with him through computer coaching classes. Kiran Devi stated that Mariam, together with her father Abid and brothers Danish and Zuhair, ensnared Ujjwal in a love trap and pressured him into converting at a mosque in Loni. After this, his Hindu identity was erased and his name changed from Ujjwal Kumar to Rehan, followed by a nikah solemnised under Islamic rites. The family maintains that this was done without their knowledge and behind their backs. When Ujjwal’s mother attempted to meet her son at the flat and requested to stay with him, Mariam pushed her out and warned that if she created any trouble, the matter would be turned into a Hindu-Muslim conflict. The girl’s family, however, claimed that Ujjwal had already accepted Islam before the marriage. They claimed that once he converted, their daughter married him and they had no choice but to go ahead with the ceremony. In a shocking twist, Mariam’s father himself acted as the maulvi at the nikah, while her brother stood as witness. The family ensured that no outsiders were present at the ceremony, and even refused to disclose the name of the mosque where it was held. Reports also suggest that during the marriage proceedings, Mariam’s father asked Ujjwal to invite his family, but he declined, saying he would explain later. Kiran Devi has linked the entire incident to a larger conversion racket operating between Hyderabad and Chhangur Baba, accusing those involved of being part of an organized network that traps and converts vulnerable Hindu youth. The family stated that when they resisted Ujjwal’s conversion, antisocial elements began gathering outside their home, creating fears for their safety. The case took another turn when it emerged that the marriage rituals had connections to Hyderabad and that some parts of the conversion process were linked to clerics associated with Hasanpur Masuri. With the nikah reportedly performed in Baghpat’s Khekra, the investigation has now been handed over to Baghpat police. Meanwhile, a case has been registered against Mariam, her father Abid, and her brothers Danish and Zuhair, and authorities launched a probe into the full extent of the conspiracy.

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Why it is Hate Crime ?

This incident has been added to the Hinduphobia Tracker under the category- Predatory Proselytisation. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, and the tertiary category under which it has been placed is- Family claims grooming. Religious brainwashing essentially means the often subtle and forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up their religious beliefs to accept contrasting regimented ideas. Religious grooming or brainwashing also involves propaganda and manipulation. It involves the systematic effort, driven by religious malice and indoctrination, to persuade “non-believers’ to accept allegiance, command, or doctrine to and of a contrasting faith. Cases of such grooming or brainwashing are far more nuanced than direct threats, coercion, inducement and violence. In such cases, it is often seen that there is repeated, subtle and continual manipulation of the victim to induce disaffection towards their own faith and acceptance of the contrasting faith of the perpetrator. While subtle indoctrination is widely acknowledged as predatory, an element which is often understated in such conversions or the attempts of such conversion is the role of loyalty and trust which might develop between the perpetrator and the victim. Fiduciary relationships are often abused to affect such religious conversion. For example, an educator transmitting religious doctrine of a competing faith to a Hindu student. The Hindu student is likely to accept what the teacher is transmitting owing to existence of the fiduciary relationship. The exploitation of the fiduciary relationship to religiously indoctrinate victims would also be included in this category. Since the underlying animosity towards the victim’s faith forms the basis of predatory proselytization, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. This case represents a clear instance of religiously motivated exploitation, where conversion was achieved not through open choice but by deception, coercion, and manipulation. The victim, a young Hindu boy, was first drawn into a relationship with a much older woman, gradually distanced from his family, and then pressured into abandoning his faith. The entire process was designed not only to trap him emotionally but also to erase his Hindu identity and assimilate him into another religious fold. The conversion itself was carried out through subtle manipulation and psychological control. The woman and her relatives lured the boy into dependence, concealed the truth from his parents, and ensured that the marriage was conducted in secrecy, with no outsiders present and with even the mosque’s name withheld. His name was changed, his new identity imposed, and the Nikah ceremony conducted in such a way that his family had no opportunity to intervene. These elements show that the act was not the result of informed consent but the outcome of systematic grooming and coercion. Under Islamic law, a nikah cannot be conducted between a Muslim and a non-Muslim unless the non-Muslim partner converts to Islam. Therefore, the insistence on performing a nikah reveals the perpetrators’ intent to strip Ujjwal of his Hindu identity and force him to adopt Islam. It is largely through the testimony of his mother that the pattern becomes clear. She described how her son’s behaviour changed over time, how he was slowly pulled away from his family, and how he ultimately found himself trapped in a forced conversion and marriage. Her account highlights that this was not a simple case of a consensual interfaith relationship but a deliberate process of manipulation aimed at breaking his ties with his family and faith. Taken together, the deception, secrecy, and coercion demonstrate that the boy was deliberately targeted as a Hindu and pressured into abandoning his religious identity. This makes it evident that this incident was not just personal exploitation but an act of hostility toward Hindu identity itself, and for this reason, this incident warrants inclusion in the tracker. Disclaimer: For the purpose of documentation, the Hinduphobia Tracker has recorded the incident date as February 18, 2024. While the victim’s ordeal began around February 2024, no exact day was specified in the reports. To maintain consistency, the 18th was chosen as a placeholder, reflecting the date when the case was first reported, while the month and year mark the period when the coercion and conversion are believed to have started. In line with our methodology, the Tracker records incidents based on when the victim’s suffering began, not when they later came to light in the media.