Hardoi Rape and Forced Conversion Case, Uttar Pradesh

In 2025, in the Hardoi district of Uttar Pradesh, India, a woman was allegedly abducted, gang-raped, and coerced into converting to another religion under threat of death. The incident surfaced after the victim managed to escape and lodge a complaint with the Hardoi police. Authorities registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for rape, criminal intimidation, and wrongful confinement, alongside provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act. The accused were apprehended following a swift investigation. The case quickly drew intense media scrutiny and was taken over by a Special Investigation Team to ensure a fair inquiry. The victim’s identity remains protected by court order, and the trial is being conducted in a fast-track court with in-camera proceedings.

As of mid-2026, the case remains under trial. Several accused persons have been denied bail and are in judicial custody. The trial is ongoing in a special fast-track court, and a final verdict is pending.

Whether the sexual violence was a premeditated tool to force religious conversion; the evidentiary threshold to prove that the conversion was non-consensual; the constitutional tension between the right to religious freedom and the state’s anti-conversion law; and concerns over the misuse of such laws to target interfaith relationships.

The case sparked widespread outrage, with Hindu nationalist organizations staging large protests demanding stricter enforcement of anti-conversion legislation and the death penalty for the perpetrators. Conversely, minority rights groups and secular activists expressed concerns about the potential for false accusations to fuel communal polarization. The incident reignited a polarizing national debate on the controversial concept of "love jihad" and led to renewed calls in the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly to amend the anti-conversion law with harsher penalties. It also prompted women’s rights organizations to emphasize the need for victim-centric reforms in the criminal justice system.