Muslim doctor pretends to be Hindu to marry Hindu woman, forces her to convert, murders her when she refuses
Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India 
25 October, 2021
Case Summary
A court in Bareilly sentenced a doctor, Iqbal Ahmad to life imprisonment for killing his second wife, Nisha Devi, a resident of Saharanpur with the assistance of his two aides, Muhammad Yaseen and Misaryar Khan in 2021 on the basis of the testimony of his nine-year-old daughter. On October 26, 2021, the victim was discovered dead at their residence and her husband had disappeared. The dead body was taken to a nearby hospital by police. Later, the young girl revealed to the deceased’s mother and her maternal grandmother, Kaushal Devi, that her mother had been murdered by her father. Her assertion was substantiated by the autopsy report, which disclosed that Nisha had been strangled to death. As per files, Nisha and Iqbal had a love marriage after the latter introduced himself as ‘Dr Raju Sharma’. The wedding was solemnised in Saharanpur as per Hindu rituals. Nisha came to know about her husband’s identity when they moved to Meerganj in Bareilly. ‘Raju’ was actually Iqbal and he was already married with four children. The accused then started putting pressure on her to embrace Islam, which she refused. Later she was found murdered.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
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. What gives this case a distinct religious angle is that the Muslim perpetrator actively hid his religion and pretended to be a Hindu to ensure that the victim woman married him. He purposely married her as per Hindu rituals to deceive the Hindu girl. Further, when his real identity was revealed, he threatened the Hindu victim to convert to Islam, failing which, he killed her. Since the religious motive of the crime is evident from the above-stated facts, this case has been documented as a hate crime.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
1
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
Perpetrator held guilty by court
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Sources 
