Muslim family issues death threats to their Hindu son-in-law to convert to Islam

Case ID : e97a14a | Location : Morena, Madhya Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 11 June, 2023

Case ID : e97a14a

Morena, Madhya Pradesh, India

11 June, 2023

Muslim family issues death threats to their Hindu son-in-law to convert to Islam

Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women

Threatened to convert by family of partner

Case Summary

A Muslim girl, Farzana Bano, married her Hindu boyfriend, Naveen Shakya, in Morena despite opposition from her family. Farzana's family, still disapproving, threatened Naveen to convert to Islam or face dire consequences. They even threatened to kill Naveen's maternal grandfather if he did not comply. Farzana's family insisted they would only accept the relationship if Naveen converted to Islam. Troubled by the threats, the couple sought police protection and met with the SSP of Gwalior, Rajesh Singh Chandel, to ensure their safety. The police initiated an investigation, and provided security to the couple. Naveen remained firm in his decision not to change his religion due to external pressure.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

What makes this case worthy of being documented under the category of hate crime against Hindu men for being associated with non-Hindu women is that the victim was abused and threatened with conversion. When Hindu men are in a relationship with non-Hindu women, there are cases where the man faces threats to convert and change his religious identity by the non-Hindu woman or her family. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu woman known to the victim. Somewhere along the relationship, the non-Hindu woman or her family starts forcing/pressurizing the Hindu man to convert to Islam and also assaults the victim to force him to convert. 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 man 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 man was brainwashed or threatened to convert to Islam.