Hindu woman died by suicide in Rajasthan after forced conversion, repeated rape, and caste-based abuse
Churu, Rajasthan, India 
2 March, 2025
Case Summary
In Churu district of Rajasthan, a 25-year-old Hindu woman tragically ended her life after enduring repeated sexual assault, blackmail, coercion to convert to Islam, caste based abuse and pressure to marry a Muslim man named Sudam Khan. The victim used to work at Baroda Gramin Bank. According to the complaint filed by the woman’s brother, Sudam Khan had been in contact with the victim for some time. On 3rd March 2025, Sudam coerced her into transferring ₹85,000 to his account. On 12th March, he lured her to his house, where he raped and attempted to strangle her. The accused, Sudam Khan, not only sexually assaulted the victim but also recorded obscene videos to blackmail her into converting to Islam and marrying him. He issued death threats to her and her family if she revealed the abuse. The victim’s brother also reported that Sudam’s brother verbally harassed her with caste-based slurs and threatened to kill her. The victim was repeatedly raped by the Muslim accused. Deeply traumatised by the repeated sexual violence, coercion to convert, blackmail, and threats to her life and dignity, the woman consumed poison. Before her death on 14 March, while receiving treatment at Bhadra hospital, she confided in her brother about the abuse. Following her death, the police initiated a detailed investigation.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of- Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Forced conversion before marriage. In such cases, a non-Hindu man is in a relationship with a Hindu woman when the pressure to convert her religion begins to manifest. In such cases, typically, two patterns emerge. First, when the relationship is consensual, and the religious identity of the perpetrator is known to the Hindu woman in the relationship, however, at some point during the relationship, the non-Hindu man starts to force the victim to convert her religion and give up her Hindu religious identity. The second is when the woman gets into a marriage with the man pretending to share her faith. Later, when the truth is revealed, the man starts pressuring the woman to convert her religion and give up her religious identity. In both the situations, the methods used to force the victim to convert her religion often revolve around force-feeding beef, forcing her to wear hijab, forcing her to read the Kalma or even pressurizing the victim to do ‘Nikah’, which is marriage under Islamic law, with a prerequisite being conversion to Islam. Cases where a Hindu woman consensually converts to Islam in a relationship will be left out of the hate crime database, even though it could be argued in several cases that the conversion was a result of religious brainwashing. 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- 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 - Suicide for being forced to or pressured to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with a non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman faces pressure/threats/violence to convert and change her religious identity 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. In some of these cases, unable to bear the pressure/threat/violence being mounted by the non-Hindu partner to convert, the Hindu woman commits suicide. In such cases, often, threats are also given to the family members of the Hindu woman. Since such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim, leading to the woman committing suicide, these cases are categorized as a hate crime. The other sub-category selected is - Torture of family to force woman to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman is forced to convert her religion. Several methods are used for such forced conversion. The non-Hindu man is often documented to issue threats and even employ violence. One of the ways used by such perpetrators is threatening and/or torturing the family members of the Hindu woman to pressure her to convert. The perpetrators in such cases issue threats to harm or torture the family of the woman. In some cases, there is also violence directed towards the family to force the Hindu woman to convert. Such crimes aim to blackmail the victim into changing her religion by inducing fear of harm to her family. 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 primary category selected is - Hate Speech against Hindus. The sub-category selected is - Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith. Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. In this case, the Hindu woman was pressured to convert to Islam as a precondition for marriage to Sudam Khan. The coercion was not incidental but central to the abuse—he repeatedly raped her, blackmailed her with obscene videos, and explicitly demanded that she change her religion before marriage. This coercive attempt to erase her Hindu identity and replace it with another religious identity qualifies as a hate crime rooted in religious hostility and control. The accused recorded obscene videos of the woman and used them to blackmail her into converting to Islam. Threats were made not only against her but also against her family, showing that the blackmail was not personal but intended to force a religious transformation against her will. This form of targeted coercion, driven by her Hindu identity and aimed at religious conversion, qualifies as a hate crime. The victim was raped multiple times, physically assaulted, and repeatedly threatened with death when she refused to convert. The escalation of violence in direct response to her resistance shows clear religious motivation. The threats extended to her family as well, indicating that the intent was to enforce conversion through fear and violence. Such targeted assault and threats for refusing to give up one's religious identity clearly fall within this hate crime category. The accused not only threatened the victim but also issued death threats against her family to pressure her into converting to Islam. The fear of harm to her loved ones was used as a weapon to break her resistance and force religious conversion. This deliberate tactic of targeting the victim’s family to coerce her into abandoning her Hindu identity reflects religiously motivated hostility and qualifies as a hate crime Unable to bear the sustained pressure to convert, the repeated sexual assaults, blackmail, and death threats, the woman died by suicide. Her death was not an isolated personal tragedy but the outcome of targeted religious persecution. Her suicide was directly linked to the sustained campaign to forcibly convert her, making this a textbook case of hate crime. The victim was subjected to caste-based slurs by the accused. It can be argued that a caste-specific slur is aimed at her micro identity and not her Hindu identity itself. However, as far as Abrahamic religions are concerned, the micro identities of caste, region, and language are secondary. It is the religious identity that drives the animosity of the perpetrator against the Hindu victim. In this case, while the accused hurled caste abuses at the victim, the animosity was driven by his animosity towards Hinduism and Hindus. The fact that caste slurs were hurled at the victim by the perpetrator makes it a religiously motivated hate crime against the victim. Hence, this is a hate crime as the victim was relentlessly raped, blackmailed, and threatened to force her to convert to Islam. Her Hindu identity was the specific reason she was targeted, leading to her suicide. Hence, this case is added to the hate crime database. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that the news reports do not specify the exact date when the woman's ordeal began, but they mention that the accused coerced her into transferring ₹85,000 to his account on 3rd March 2025. Since this is the earliest date mentioned, we are considering this as when the victim's ordeal began and using this as the incident date. While media coverage of the incident emerged later, the Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began, not when it was reported.
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
male
Sources 
