Muslim youth from Lucknow uses private videos to blackmail Hindu woman to convert to Islam, forces her to get an abortion, accused's family assaults her when she protests
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India 
10 October, 2023
Case Summary
In UP's Lucknow, a Muslim man named Afzal Siddiqui met a Hindu girl at Janeshwar Mishra Park after which he befriended her, trapped her into a romantic bond and gradually gained her trust. He regularly established a sexual relationship with her in his house and in multiple hotels and recorded it on video. Meanwhile, she got pregnant and he began pushing her to have an abortion against her will. She was reportedly forced to undergo an ultrasound by the offender and his sister-in-law to confirm the pregnancy after which they had the fetus terminated. Afzal pacified her by promising marriage when she warned to complain to the cops. Eventually, she filed a report after which he absconded to Dubai in June, 2023. She charged that his family members were compelling her to embrace Islam and assaulted her when she protested. The accused Afzal also threatened to make her private clips viral on social media. The police lodged an FIR against a total of eight people including seven named and one unknown in connection with the abortion and religious conversion.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
In this case, there are two distinct components which prove that the offence was committed coupled with a bias hence this case has been classified as a religious hate crime. The first sub-category in this instance 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 second sub-category applicable in this case 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. Since this case meets two specific components of religiously motivated hate crimes against Hindu women, this case has been documented here.
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 registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 5 to 10
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
