Hindu woman coerced to offer namaz, idols desecrated; faced threats for resisting religious conversion

Case ID : ea348a9 | Location : Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Fri, 28 March, 2025

Case ID : ea348a9

Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India

28 March, 2025

Hindu woman coerced to offer namaz, idols desecrated; faced threats for resisting religious conversion

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Desecration of Hindu symbols in relationship

Blackmailed to convert

Forced conversion after marriage

Forced to read Kalma

Assault or threat upon refusal to convert

Case Summary

A 35-year-old Hindu woman from Bhopal lodged a complaint reporting mental harassment and threats to her life from her Muslim husband and in-laws, alongside coercion to convert her religion. The victim married Ganim Ali in 2014 with the consent of both families, after receiving assurances that her religious freedom would be respected. These assurances were given to her late father, who passed away in 2022. Following his death, the woman reported that her in-laws’ behaviour changed significantly. According to her statement, she was pressured to perform Namaz and follow Islamic customs, and her religious idols were desecrated. Despite holding an MBA degree, she had chosen to focus on family life, but found herself forced to leave her home in June 2023 due to escalating coercion and threats. She reported that her father-in-law continued to threaten her through WhatsApp messages even after her departure. She subsequently moved to Delhi to live with her elder sister and began seeking employment. She further stated that she had made efforts to save her marriage, but was ultimately evicted from her home. The woman also accused her sister-in-law, Sana Habib, a Pakistani national based in Dubai, of deepening religious tensions within the household by insisting that the woman’s children could not be considered Muslim unless she converted. Despite filing a formal complaint in Bhopal, she reported that the police had failed to register an FIR. Although the Delhi Police had registered a domestic violence case on 29 March 2025, she reported that authorities in Bhopal remained inactive. She spent five days in Bhopal pursuing justice and urged immediate legal action.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category- Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. The sub-category relevant in this case is- Desecration of Hindu symbols in relationship. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman faces insult and desecration of her faith (Hinduism) and its symbol because of the inherent disregard for polytheism of the non-Hindu partner. 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 desecrating the religious symbols of the Hindu partner out of spite for her faith. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. The other sub-category selected 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 other sub-category selected is- Forced conversion after marriage, and within it, the tertiary category selected is- Forced to read Kalma. 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, the marriage is consensual in most cases and often, there is no element of the man hiding his religious identity. 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. In such cases, there is application of force by the perpetrator, including, denial of the woman’s religious rights. Some of the means by which the woman is forced/pressured to convert include force-feeding beef, forced to read the Kalma, forced to wear a hijab, forced for 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. The other sub-category selected 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 qualifies as a hate crime because the woman faced targeted hostility and coercion based on her religious identity as a Hindu. Despite entering the marriage with the understanding that her faith would be respected, her husband and in-laws began desecrating Hindu religious symbols and pressuring her to abandon her beliefs and adopt Islam. Such actions reflect religiously motivated hatred, where the victim is deliberately humiliated and harassed for her polytheistic faith. The desecration of idols, pressure to perform Islamic practices, and the attempt to erase her religious identity after marriage are not merely domestic issues but acts of targeted intolerance rooted in contempt for her religion. Furthermore, the threats of violence upon refusal to convert indicate that the abuse was not general in nature but driven by religious prejudice. The victim’s suffering was directly tied to her resistance to forced conversion, placing the crime within the scope of religiously motivated coercion and intimidation. When such pressure is exerted specifically because of the woman’s Hindu identity, with the intent to erase it or punish her for retaining it, it constitutes a hate crime.