Hindu woman forced to perform nikah and consume beef by a Muslim man masquerading as Hindu, sons forcefully circumcised
Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India 
31 December, 2012
Case Summary
In Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, a Hindu woman was deceived by a Muslim man posing as a Hindu. He befriended her, drugged her and raped her. She was forced to do Nikah and was kept chained, forced to convert to Islam, fed beef, and threatened into silence for years, during which she had two children whose names and religious rites were imposed without her consent. In 2013, the victim was working at a private company, where she met a man named Sanjay. He introduced himself as Sanjay Kumawat. After becoming friends, he started calling her his sister and gradually got closer. One day, when she was unwell, he came to visit and secretly laced a cold drink with drugs. After that, he raped her and threatened that he had taken videos and photos of the act. Out of fear, the woman remained silent. Later, Sanjay took her to the Khajrana temple, where he put sindoor in her hair and pretended to marry her. After that, she was kept at various locations — in Mandsaur, Kota, and Bhawani Mandi — and was forcibly married (nikah) in the presence of a maulana. She was beaten and forced to convert to Islam. She also learnt that her husband was targeting other Hindu women also. After the marriage, she was made to recite Islamic prayers daily, forced to eat beef, and was chained and locked in a room. When she tried to escape, she was brutally beaten and denied food and water for three days. She said that she was pregnant during this period. Later, her son was forcibly circumcised and named Junaid and her daughter Zoya. Based on the woman’s complaint, Mhow police filed a case against Sanjay Khan and four others on charges including rape, forced religious conversion, and more. The accused were identified as Sanjay Khan, Nahru Khan, Shero B, Babu Khan, and Raj Khan.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker un the primary category of - Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. The sub-category selected here is - Man pretends to be Hindu, with the tertiary sub-categories being - Name changed, Marries as per Hindu rituals. When a non-Hindu man pretends to be a Hindu to deceive a Hindu woman into a relationship, the act is seen as triggered by malafide intentions. In some cases, the woman eventually accepts the man’s original religious identity and converts after the man’s identity is revealed. These cases could be argued as cases of religious brainwashing and a result of the pressure a woman feels after getting into a relationship with a man. The woman, it can be argued, also changed her religious identity because of the stigma she believes she might face if she chooses to walk out of a deceptive relationship. However, for the purpose of documenting hate crimes, the cases in this subcategory are limited to those where there is explicit violence aimed at religious conversion against the wishes of the victim (force-feeding beef, blackmailing with intimate videos, rape on refusal to convert, etc), or if the woman herself complains of the man’s religious deception. In such cases, it is established that the deception of the non-Hindu man had a specific aim of religious conversion or targeting of the victim due to her Hindu religious identity, therefore, making it a religiously motivated hate crime. 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. 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 categories selected are- Forced to read Kalma, Forced to eat beef, Forced circumcision and Forced to do Nikah. 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. This case from Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, is a clear instance of a religiously motivated hate crime targeting a Hindu woman because of her religious identity. The man deliberately concealed his Muslim identity and adopted a Hindu name to befriend and deceive her. This deception was a strategic act to draw the victim into a coercive situation where her faith could be forcibly altered. After gaining her trust, the man raped her using drugged food and then used the threat of intimate videos to silence and control her. He performed a fake marriage ritual in a Hindu temple to give a sense of legitimacy, before later subjecting her to confinement, violence, and religious conversion. She was made to recite prayers against her will, forcibly fed beef, and kept chained while pregnant—all of which show that the aim was to break her spirit and forcibly reshape her identity. The woman was forcibly made to undergo Nikah in the presence of a maulana, despite her refusal. She was then compelled to recite the Kalma daily, as part of the continued pressure to abandon her Hindu faith. These actions reflect targeted hostility not just against the individual but against her religion and community. Forcing a Hindu to eat beef is an act of deep violation, not just of personal choice but of religious sanctity, as the cow is revered in Hinduism as a sacred and maternal symbol (Gau Mata). This act is not merely a dietary imposition—it is a targeted attack on the core of the victim’s belief system, intended to degrade and desecrate what is held holy. Such coercion is a form of psychological and spiritual violence, intended to humiliate and strip the person of religious dignity and identity. Also, the victim’s son was forcibly circumcised and given a Muslim name, ‘Junaid’, without her consent. Her daughter was named ‘Zoya’ in accordance with Islamic practices, further asserting control over the children’s identities. These actions were part of a broader pattern of coercion aimed at the religious conversion of the entire family against the mother’s will. It is further important to note here that the victims were minors, which means the element of consent and genuine change of conscience was missing ab initio. Minors, due to their young age and lack of maturity, are particularly vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. They may not have the ability to fully understand the implications of converting to another religion, and the Muslim perpetrator purposely targeted and exploited this vulnerability of the victim. Since this case exemplifies the use of coercion and manipulation to achieve religious conversion, it is a blatant act of religious hate, which is why it has been documented here in the hate tracker. What makes this case stand out as a hate crime is the use of systematic coercion, physical abuse, and manipulation to erase the woman's religious identity and impose another. Initially, she was deceived and forced to convert. She was force-fed beef forced to recite Kalma. Her children were given names and subjected to religious practices without her consent, further showing that the intent was not limited to control over her but to redefine her and her family’s religious identity entirely. The violence and abuse were deeply interwoven with religious hostility, making this a case of ideological aggression against the victim's belief system. Thus, this case is included in the hate crime database. Disclaimer: Media reports state that the victim's ordeal began when she met the accused in 2013, though no exact date or month is provided. To document this case, we have used an indicative date—January 1, 2013—as a placeholder to represent the beginning of her suffering. While media coverage of the incident emerged in May 9, 2025, the Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began, not when it was reported.
Victim Details
Total Victim
3
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 2
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 3
Age Group
- Minor 2
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
