Four Muslim youths rape a Hindu girl of Ahmednagar, film the act and blackmail her with it to read Namaz and watch Zakir Naik videos, forcefully convert her to Islam
Kopargaon, Maharashtra, India 
11 July, 2023
Case Summary
In the Kopargaon region of the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, a 20-year-old Hindu girl was kidnapped, raped, and threatened with death before her forceful conversion. The arrested accused are identified as Sayam Qureshi, Imran Sheikh, Chotu alias Kaleem, Faiyyaz, and one unidentified unarrested Maulvi. The victim girl who runs a cafe, got introduced to the primary accused Sayam through Instagram in the year 2019 and developed a friendship. In May 2023, Sayam travelled from Indore to Koargaon and pressurised the woman to meet him. On refusal, she was threatened with death. He also called his associates and took her to a Madarsa in the Khadki region where they forcefully intoxicated her. Sayam then raped her while the other accused shot derogatory videos and photos of the act. The accused threatened the girl with these videos and took her to his home in Indore, where he raped her several times. He took her to a Maulvi and forcefully converted her to Islam. Sayam blackmailed her to read the Namaz, watch Zakir Naik videos and further threatened her family members with sending the victim girl into prostitution if they did not convert to Islam as well. “Muslims are converting people all over the world. Nothing wrong can happen to us. We have strong connections. Do not open your mouths. Otherwise, we will sell your daughters and kill your son", he allegedly said. Faiyyaz, one of the accused was involved in making fake documents. Reportedly, the accused have connections with Islamists in Sambhajinagar district of Maharashtra who perhaps provide funds for conversion activities.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
In this case, there are three distinct components which prove that the offence was committed coupled with a bias hence this case has been classified as a religious hate crime. The first sub-category in this instance is 'Forced conversion before marriage.' In such cases, a non-Hindu man is in a relationship with a Hindu woman when the pressure to convert her religion begins to manifest. The relationship in such cases is mostly consensual and the religious identity of the perpetrator is known to the Hindu woman in the relationship, however, at some point during the relationship, the non-Hindu man starts to force the victim to convert her religion and give up her Hindu religious identity. In such cases, the methods used to force the victim to convert her religion often revolve around force-feeding beef, forcing her to wear hijab, forcing her to read the Kalma or even pressurizing the victim to do ‘Niqah’, which is marriage under Islamic law, with a prerequisite being conversion to Islam. Cases where a Hindu woman consensually converts to Islam in a relationship will be left out of the hate crime database, even though it could be argued in several cases that the conversion was a result of religious brainwashing. The second sub-category applicable here is 'blackmailed to convert.' When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman is blackmailed to convert her religion, owing to her religious identity of being a Hindu. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu man known to the victim, however, there could be cases where the relationship is not consensual and the non-Hindu man starts blackmailing a Hindu woman to convert her religion. In these cases, it is often seen that the Hindu woman is blackmailed with intimate photos and/or videos, threats of harm to her or her family, threats of violence etc. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. The third sub-category this case comes under 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 pressurizing 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 recorded because it satisfies the above three requirements for religiously motivated hate crimes against Hindu women.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 1
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 5 to 10
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
