Muslim man attempts to convert Hindu caretaker of a night shelter by offering him govt job and money, makes derogatory remarks about Hinduism, threatens with beheading if they did not convert
North Delhi, Delhi, India 
8 June, 2023
Case Summary
In New Delhi, a case of forced religious conversion surfaced at a night shelter located in the Chandni Mahal area. Following a complaint from the shelter's caretaker, Sandeep Sagar, the police filed an FIR and arrested Mohammad Kaleem on June 9, 2023. According to Sagar, Kaleem pressured him to convert to Islam, offering inducements like a government job and financial benefits. The accused purportedly made derogatory remarks about Hinduism and promoted its boycott through YouTube videos. Kaleem compelled Sagar to recite Islamic phrases and showed him religious videos. He promised marriage, Rs 1 lakh, and help with a government job if Sagar converted. Sagar also said that Kaleem converted a young man named Sanjeev Kumar to Islam and was pressuring others like Sujit Kumar and Vicky Sharma to do the same. Sandeep, the caretaker, further said that Kaleem falsely accused him of theft when he refused to convert. He even threatened to implicate him in other cases. Kaleem purportedly threatened people with beheading if they did not convert, envisioning India as an Islamic nation. He also used Zakir Naik's videos to radicalise and coerce youths into converting to Islam. Delhi Police investigating the case have disclosed that the accused, Md Kaleem, created five WhatsApp groups to share Islamic propaganda videos and audio with individuals seeking shelter at Rain Basera or night shelters in Delhi, aiming to radicalise and coerce them into converting to Islam. These groups were disguised as welfare programs to mislead people. Police are questioning group members and examining Kaleem's bank accounts for potential foreign funding linked to the conversion racket. Police revealed that religious propaganda materials were found on Kaleem's mobile, indicating his association with WhatsApp groups as an administrator. Kaleem was taken into police custody.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This particular case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under four subcategories of Predatory Proselytisation because of the various distinct components that demonstrate the perpetrator's bias against the Hindu faith and his deliberate attempt to alienate the victim from his Hindu identity. The first sub-category under 'Predatory Proselytisation' relevant in this case is attempting to convert by inducement. Predatory Proselytisation is not just limited to threat, harassment, force and violence, but it also has contours of stealth. In several cases, the Hindu victim is exploited to convert, with non-Hindus taking advantage of their poverty. In such cases, the Hindu victim who is suffering financially is offered monetary benefits, including lucrative offers for jobs, health treatment, education, etc, to induce the victim into changing his/her religion. In such cases, the religious identity of the victim and the aim to disenfranchise him from his faith form the heart of the crime. Also, taking advantage of and exploiting an individual’s economic vulnerabilities is widely acknowledged as exploitation, forms of which are often penalised by law. Such cases therefore are considered religiously motivated hate crimes since the victim’s religious identity forms the very heart of the crime itself. In this case, the accused tried to lure the Hindu victim by offering him a lucrative government job and financial aid. Youngsters, in search of a secure job and a comfortable life, usually get lured by such juicy inducements and agree to give up their faith. Since exploiting vulnerabilities for the explicit purpose of conversion is purely based on animosity towards the victim's faith, this case has been categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime. The second sub-category under 'Predatory Proselytisation' relevant in this case is 'Attempting to convert/converting by denigrating Hinduism.' In several cases, Hindus are converted or an attempt is made to convert Hindus by denigrating their faith, Hinduism. In such cases, the Hindus associate with the non-Hindu perpetrators often by choice and then, the attempt to convert them by insulting their faith, showing the faith down etc begins. An example of this would be a non-Hindu gathering where the Hindus are attending the gathering of their own free will. However, once they attend the gathering, there is an explicit attempt to convert them by abusing their faith and hailing the faith of the perpetrator. The denigration of the Hindu faith is often based on misrepresentation of the Hindu faith, its doctrine and scriptures and insult to espoused traditions if not blatant lies about Hindu beliefs and ways. Such conversions or attempts at conversions are driven by animosity towards the Hindu faith and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. Here, the Muslim accused made derogatory remarks about Hinduism and promoted its boycott through YouTube videos, which itself stems from the animosity against the Hindu faith, which is why this case qualifies as a hate crime against Hindus and has been documented here. The third sub-category under Predatory Proselytisation relevant here is 'Attempting to convert by harassment/threat.' Harassment covers a wide range of behaviours of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, including threats and coercion. Harassment and threats in this case find their root on discriminatory grounds which have the effect of nullifying a person’s rights or infringing upon his freedom to exercise his right specifically owing to the victim’s religious identity. Verbal and physical threats and psychological or physical harassment are often used against Hindu victims because they choose to practice their professed religion. Religious harassment also includes forced and involuntary conversions by harassment, threats or coercion. Coercion includes intimidatory tactics like force-feeding a Hindu victim beef to convert to another religion and forceful circumcision. In several cases documented, non-Hindu perpetrators or those who harbour specific animosity towards Hinduism, harass victims simply based on their religious identity. Such cases often also include harassment in an attempt to make the Hindu victim abandon his/her professed religion and adopt the religion of the perpetrator. In this sub-category, we would include cases where the non-Hindu perpetrator harassed, threatened or coerced the victim to convert, however, the Hindu victim did not convert to another faith. Cases where the victim was converted owing to the harassment and threats would be documented in another sub-category. Such cases where Hindu victims are harassed to convert to the perpetrator’s religion are rooted in animosity towards the victim’s religious identity and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. The details of this case reveal that the Muslim perpetrator, to alienate the Hindu victim from his professed faith, issued beheading threats. The victim also revealed that the Muslim accused falsely accused him of theft when he refused to convert. In such cases, usually because of the fear of harm, the victim usually accedes to the demands of conversion, which was clearly the aim of the perpetrator. Since the motivating factor of the crime was the religious identity of the victims and the intention of disenfranchising them from it, the case has been included under this sub-category as well. The fourth sub-category under Predatory Proselytisation relevant here is Proselytisation by brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. 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 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 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. In this case, the Muslim perpetrator attempted to brainwash and radicalise the Hindu youth by showing him videos of Islamic hate preacher Zakir Naik. The distinct components of brainwashing and indoctrination demonstrate the perpetrator's bias against the Hindu faith and their deliberate attempt to alienate the victims from their religious identity. The central aim of the perpetrator was to disenfranchise the Hindu man from his professed faith. Since the central motivation here is religion, this case has been included in our Hindu hate tracker.
Victim Details
Total Victim
4
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 4
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 4
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 4
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
