Hindu man held hostage, forcibly converted and married off to Muslim woman; family threatened with death

Case ID : f6647c9 | Location : Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 2 March, 2025

Case ID : f6647c9

Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

2 March, 2025

Hindu man held hostage, forcibly converted and married off to Muslim woman; family threatened with death

Predatory Proselytisation

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Case Summary

In Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh, a young Hindu man was forcibly held captive, coerced into converting to Islam, and married off to a Muslim woman named Shabnam by her brother, Taufiq. Rammanohar, who worked at Haridwar Mandi, came into contact with Taufiq. On 27th February, Taufiq, along with his father Hakim Shah, his relative Imtiaz, and Maulvi Azam Khan, forcibly detained Rammanohar in Mirpur Kurusti. Under intimidation and threats, they compelled him to convert to Islam and undergo a Muslim wedding ceremony with Shabnam. Taufiq facilitated his conversations via mobile phone. Upon learning about his son's captivity and forced conversion, Ramprasad, Rammanohar’s father, rushed to the location where the marriage was taking place. However, by the time he arrived, his son had already been converted to Islam and renamed Munnawar. Taufiq and his family had conducted the marriage rituals against his will. When Ramprasad confronted them, they not only refused to release his son but also threatened to kill him, forcing him to leave. Recounting the ordeal, Ramprasad stated, “They openly declared that they had converted my son to Islam and dared me to take action if I wished.” While Ramprasad firmly accused Taufiq and his family of coercion and forced religious conversion, Rammanohar’s mother expressed willingness to accept Shabnam as her daughter-in-law only if she agreed to convert to Hinduism.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of Predatory Proselytisation. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Harassment, threat, 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. This case is a clear example of Predatory Proselytisation, as it involves the deliberate targeting of a vulnerable individual for religious conversion through harassment, threats, and coercion. Rammanohar was deceitfully lured into a relationship under the false pretext of marriage by Taufiq, who facilitated contact between him and his sister, Shabnam. However, the true intention behind this arrangement became evident when Taufiq, along with his family members and a cleric, forcefully held Rammanohar captive, threatened him, and coerced him into converting to Islam. The victim was subjected to intense psychological pressure and intimidation, stripping him of his religious identity against his will. The fact that he was compelled to adopt a new Islamic name, ‘Munnawar,’ and forcibly married off under Islamic rites further reinforces the calculated nature of this act, aimed at permanently alienating him from his Hindu faith. This form of conversion, achieved through force and intimidation, is not a matter of personal choice but a case of religious imposition, violating his fundamental rights. The fact that the Hindu man was trapped with the sole aim of conversion makes this case worthy of being documented as a hate crime in the tracker.