Hindu man and his family threatened for marrying Muslim woman

Case ID : f664a2f | Location : Dibrugarh, Assam, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 13 February, 2025

Case ID : f664a2f

Dibrugarh, Assam, India

13 February, 2025

Hindu man and his family threatened for marrying Muslim woman

Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women

Attacked by non-Hindu partner or/and her family

Case Summary

A 28-year-old Hindu man, Tapan Das, and his family received death threats after he married a Muslim woman. They were threatened by the Muslim woman's family, who opposed their interfaith marriage. Tapan married the Muslim woman on 14th February 2025 in Laluka Gaon in the Dibrugarh district of Assam. Following their marriage, the Muslim woman's family threatened Tapan’s widowed mother and sister. They warned them of dire consequences, including murder, through calls made from multiple phone numbers. On 27th March 2025, Tapan’s mother received a call demanding that she hand over her son and daughter-in-law. She was threatened with death, along with her daughter, if she failed to comply. In response, the victim’s family filed a police complaint. According to the complaint, the Muslim woman’s family said, “Handover the girl and boy before Eid to us otherwise, we shall send our goons at your residence to kill you and your mother, and they will be cut into pieces.” Tapan’s mother pleaded, “I am a widow lady residing with my young daughter and no one else to look after us. The threat of dire consequences is very alarming, and I am living in danger. So, I therefore request you to arrest the culprits and punish them as per law.” Fearing for their lives due to the relentless threats and the ongoing search by the woman’s family, Tapan and his wife eloped.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the primary category 'Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women' under the sub-category 'Attacked by non-Hindu partner and/or her family'. When Hindu men are in a relationship with non-Hindu women, there are cases where the man is forced to convert his religion and upon his refusal to do so, the partner or/and her family attacks the victim. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu woman known to the victim. Somewhere along the relationship, the non-Hindu woman or her family starts forcing/pressurizing the Hindu man to convert. In some of these cases, the association could be non-consensual as well or, the religious identity of the non-Hindu woman could be previously unknown to the Hindu victim. In such cases, the Hindu man is first forced/pressurized to change his religion by the non-Hindu woman or her family. The force/pressure could involve threats. The trigger for directing violence against the Hindu man is in these cases his refusal to comply and change his religion under threat and/or force. In other cases that have been documented, it is also seen that the Hindu partner is assaulted by the non-Hindu woman or her family simply for his relationship with the non-Hindu woman and by virtue of him following the Hindu faith and not the religion of the non-Hindu woman. In such cases, the relationship is consensual in most cases and the religion of both partners is known to the other. Often, in such cases, there is no direct force/pressure to convert either, however, the attack is a result of the Hindu man being in a relationship with the non-Hindu partner and not following her religion/following Hinduism specifically. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes.