Hindu woman threatened with abduction for refusing conversion and marriage by Muslim man
Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India 
14 April, 2025
Case Summary
A young woman working at a private hospital in Puwayan, Shahjahanpur, reported misconduct involving a Muslim man named Tauheed Khan. According to her account, Tauheed, from Pakadiya Hakim village, obtained her mobile number through deceit and began contacting her repeatedly from different numbers. He pressured her to convert her religion and threatened to abduct her and her family if she did not agree to marry him. The situation took a new turn when the woman's family reached out to Tauheed’s wife, Sahiba. Sahiba stated that Islam permitted three marriages and assured the family that the girl would receive financial support and a comfortable life if she agreed. The woman filed a police complaint on 10th April, but stated that she was met with inappropriate questions and dismissed without any action. Subsequently, Tauheed’s associates arrived at her home and threatened her with death if she did not withdraw the complaint. Feeling unsafe, she approached the district head of Bajrang Dal, K.K. Gupta, on 15th April. Following pressure and a warning of protest by Gupta, the police registered the case.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category- Predatory Proselytisation. The sub-category relevant in this case is- Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion. 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 has 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, forceful circumcision etc. 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 to ensure the Hindu victim abandons his/her professed religion and adopts the religion of the perpetrator. 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 other sub-category relevant here is- Conversion/attempts 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. This case constitutes a hate crime as it involves harassment and coercion for the purpose of religious conversion. The Hindu woman was targeted specifically because of her religious identity, with the perpetrator using intimidation and threats to force her into abandoning her faith and adopting another. The pressure to convert was not incidental but deliberate and sustained, involving psychological harassment, threats of abduction, and promises of material benefit if she complied. Such tactics aim to undermine the individual’s freedom to practice their religion, which is a protected right. Furthermore, the involvement of the perpetrator’s spouse, who encouraged the conversion by justifying it within the framework of her own religion and offering inducements, reinforces the religiously motivated nature of the act. The broader pattern of harassment based on faith, as seen in other similar cases, shows that the intent was not merely personal but rooted in hostility towards the victim’s religious beliefs. As such, the case fits the recognised profile of a religiously motivated hate crime under the category of predatory proselytisation.
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
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
