I have no excuses to make in the name of any community, nor do I wish to spread lies against anyone. I only look at facts — and the facts say that this news from Varanasi is not an isolated incident. It is the latest example of a pattern that has been repeating across several states of India for years.
First, let’s understand the news
Sarita Tiwari, a resident of the Sigra police station area of Varanasi (Chittupur locality), filed a complaint with the police that the man she had married had concealed his real identity. It is alleged that a young man named Salman changed his name, introduced himself as ‘Sunny Singh’, pretended to be a Hindu, trapped the woman in a web of romance, and then married her.
After the marriage, the truth came out — the accused belonged to the Muslim community. And then began the worst cruelty: relentless pressure to convert and embrace Islam. When Sarita resisted, she was harassed and tortured.
According to ACP Chetganj Shubham Singh, a case was registered on the victim’s complaint under the sections of unlawful religious conversion (UP Unlawful Religious Conversion Act) along with other related sections. The main accused, Salman, was arrested and sent to jail, and an investigation into the role of other family members named in the FIR is ongoing.
So the outline of the case is crystal clear:
> Change your name → hide your religion → put on an act of love → get married → then pressure her to change her religion
## This is not the first such case — and that’s where the real truth lies
As an Ex-Muslim, I say this with pain: such cases have a long history. Let’s look at some well-known incidents:
1. Hyderabad’s Nawaz, who became ‘Navdurga’ (2026)
In April this year, a similarly shocking case emerged from Hyderabad. A man named Nawaz told a Hindu woman that he had embraced Hinduism and changed his name to ‘Navdurga’. He won her trust under the pretext of renting her shop, took her to a resort, drugged her, and sexually assaulted her.
He then blackmailed the woman with photographs taken while she was unconscious and forced her into marriage. After the marriage, she was forcibly made to convert to Islam, her name was changed to ‘Nazira’, and despite being a vegetarian, she was forced to eat beef. The woman’s cash of Rs 16.7 lakh, her land, and 12-13 tolas of gold were all looted — and she was threatened that after a divorce (triple talaq), any other man in the family could become her ‘husband’.
The pattern from Varanasi to Hyderabad is identical — changing religion, changing names, winning trust, marrying, and then forced conversion.
2. The Hardoi case, where the ‘friend’ turned out to be the fraudster (2025)
In July 2025, another heart-wrenching case emerged from Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh. A Hindu ITI student was first invited to her Muslim friend Reena Bano’s home, and there she was raped by a young man named Hyder. The accused made a video of the student and threatened her — ‘Accept Islam and perform a nikah, or we’ll make the video viral.’
In other words, for forced conversion, not just deception but rape and blackmail were used. The police arrested the accused in the rape-forced conversion case.
3. The Hadiya case — the aspect worth remembering (2018)
Now let’s talk about the case that went to the country’s highest court. Kerala’s Hadiya (formerly Akhila Ashokan) married Shafin Jehan. Her father alleged that this was a forced conversion-marriage. The Kerala High Court annulled the marriage, but in March 2018, the Supreme Court restored it — holding that an adult woman has every right to choose her life partner.
I am adding this case here deliberately. Because the complete picture of truth has both sides. Not every interfaith marriage is a fraud. Fraud happens when identity is false, intentions are concealed, and pressure is applied after marriage — as happened in Salman’s and Nawaz’s cases. In Hadiya’s case, the court itself found that the woman had acted of her own free will. The difference is always between consent and deception.
Marrying after hiding one’s identity is a crime, no matter which religion the man belongs to.
Through an Ex-Muslim’s eyes: recognise the pattern
When you put these cases together, a clear pattern emerges:
– The identity game: Salman → Sunny Singh, Nawaz → Navdurga. Both name and religion were changed.
– Pressure after marriage:At first everything is full of love, then suddenly, after the marriage, comes the ‘change your religion’ ultimatum.
– Torture on resistance: On refusal, mental and physical harassment, blackmail, even rape.
– Family complicity: In Varanasi, the accused’s family members; in Hyderabad, the role of Nawaz’s entire family is under investigation.
I know some will say this is just one individual’s crime — but I will definitely say this much: in some sections of our (former) community, the rules of divorce, the nikah system, and the propagation of conversion create weaknesses that such fraudsters exploit. The way the woman in the Hyderabad case was told that after a divorce any man of the family could become her husband — this is the horror of that system, which cannot be ignored. And now the real question arises — is there something in the teachings of Islam that supports and fuels this game? When I studied Islam deeply, what I found is worth telling.
Islamic references: which teachings and traditions fuel this game?
As an Ex-Muslim, I am most often asked — “Is there really a teaching in Islam that encourages these deceptions?” I asked myself this question too, when I studied Islam. The honest answer is that there is no command to deceive anywhere, but there is an entire structure of teachings and systems that work to legitimise and fuel this game. Let’s look at those references:
Quran 2:221 — ‘No nikah until she believes’
The Quranic verse says: “And do not marry polytheistic women until they believe…” In classical interpretation, a Hindu woman falls into the category of ‘mushrika’ (polytheist). The direct implication is that the very validity of a marriage to a Hindu woman rests on her conversion — ‘change your religion, then nikah’. This is the very basis on which the pressure to convert is applied after marriage.
Quran 5:5 — exemption only for ‘People of the Book’
This same verse permits Muslim men to marry Christian-Jewish (‘ahl-e-kitab’) women. A Hindu woman does not come under this category. That is, conversion becomes a mandatory condition for the nikah to be valid — and this very condition opens the door to pressure.
Quran 60:10 — after conversion, the old marriage becomes ‘invalid’
According to this verse, after embracing faith a Muslim woman cannot remain with a non-Muslim husband — “They (believing women) are not lawful for the disbelievers, nor are the disbelievers lawful for them.” On the basis of this verse, the woman’s previous marriage is dissolved after conversion, and the path of return is legally closed. That is, once you convert, your previous life is erased.
The asymmetric rule of fiqh — the door opens only one way
In all major schools of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) there is this rule: a Muslim man may marry a non-Muslim (kitabi) woman, but a Muslim woman may never marry a non-Muslim man. This very structure gives fraudsters their biggest support — every door is open for them, and for the woman trapped in their web, there is no way out.
The child takes the father’s religion — the generational game
According to Islamic law, the offspring of a Muslim father is Muslim from birth, regardless of the mother’s religion. This means a marriage obtained through deception decides not just one woman’s fate, but the religion of her entire future generation. This is why such cases are seen not merely as ‘marriage fraud’ but as part of a larger conspiracy.
The apostasy hadith — that wall of fear
In Sahih Bukhari (Hadith no. 6922), the Prophet is reported to have said: “Whoever changes his religion, kill him.” Today this is not legally applicable in India, but the mindset based on this hadith is still alive — it keeps a converted woman in fear, constantly telling her that there is no going back, this is now your religion, this is now your family. The fraudster strengthens his grip through this very fear.
The one-sided divorce system — a weapon to keep her trapped
In classical Islamic law, a man has far easier access to divorce than a woman, and a divorce initiated by the woman (khula) requires the husband’s consent. The way the woman in the Hyderabad case was told that ‘after talaq you will go to another man of the same family, because now you are a Muslim’ — this is the horror of this very system. The fraudster keeps the woman bound in this fear that there is no way to escape.
Nikah in the name of ‘dawah’ and ‘sawab’
Many scholars and fatwas consider the conversion of a non-Muslim wife as ‘dawah’ (religious propagation) and ‘sawab’ (spiritual reward). When marriage itself is made a medium of religious propagation, a fraudster can justify his act as ‘service to Islam’ — not only to himself, but also to those around him. This very mindset gives him social legitimacy.
This is not a criticism of Islam that ‘Islam teaches deception’ — rather, it is a criticism of the structure that gives deception an opportunity. And as an Ex-Muslim, my duty is to reveal this structure — because no one can know the weaknesses of the religion I left better than me.
Lessons and caution
Give your daughters and sisters the right to verify before marriage — not just the boy, but his name, documents, and identity. If a marriage is happening out of love, then love has no need to hide its identity. An honest relationship comes with both name and religion.
At the same time, do not hesitate to take legal recourse. Several states, including Uttar Pradesh, have anti-conversion laws, and the Varanasi case shows that the police are acting on such complaints. The best way to teach a fraudster a lesson is to bring him before the court.
In conclusion
Varanasi’s Salman alias Sunny Singh is in jail today, and that is exactly where he belongs. But the real question is how seriously all of us stand against this pattern — without targeting any community, and without shielding any community. That is the beauty of truth — it does not take sides; it is simply the truth.
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Sources: OpIndia Hindi (original article), Aaj Tak, ETV Bharat, Navbharat Times (Hyderabad case), NDTV (Hardoi case), Supreme Court Observer (Hadiya case)
