17-year-old Hindu girl from Surat, Gujarat, kidnapped, converted to Islam, and then married by Dilshad in Bihar
Surat, Gujarat, India 
9 January, 2022
Case Summary
In 2015, Pooja (name changed), a 17-year-old girl from Surat, Gujarat, was kidnapped by Dilshad, a man she met at her workplace in an apparel factory. Despite her repeated refusals, Dilshad persistently pursued her, eventually convincing her to meet him. During this meeting, Pooja was abducted and taken to various locations, including Sachin, Mumbai, and eventually Katihar, Bihar. In Bihar, Dilshad forced Pooja into marriage through threats and coercion, with the help of his family and a maulana. Pooja’s name was changed, and she was made to wear a burqa and follow Islamic practices, including namaz. Dilshad's mother also performed suspicious rituals near her. Pooja overheard conversations suggesting that Dilshad married her for financial gain from bringing Hindu girls into Muslim marriages. Desperate, Pooja convinced Dilshad to let her speak to her father, who informed her that her mother was seriously ill. Dilshad initially refused to let her go but eventually allowed her to meet her father under strict conditions. With help from Hindu Jagran Manch's Girish Ahir, Pooja was rescued and returned home. Despite the ordeal, Pooja struggled with societal pressure and briefly returned to Katihar. However, she was intercepted by Girish Ahir’s team, who helped her rebuild her life through counselling and Hindu rituals. Pooja eventually filed legal cases against her captors.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been placed under the prime category 'Hate crime against women in relationship and sexual crimes'. Under this, two sub-categories have been selected- 'Forced conversion before marriage' and ' Brainwashed and/or groomed'. Further, three tertiary categories have also been chosen under the first sub-category. These are- Forced to wear Hijab, Forced to do Namaz and Forced to follow non-Hindu religious practices. Similarly, one tertiary category has been chosen under the second sub-category, namely, 'Pattern of targeting Hindu minors'. 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. The relationship in such cases is mostly 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. In such cases, 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. Brainwashed and/or groomed: In our database, we have not added incidents where women have converted to another religion of their free will and no allegations of forced/involuntary conversion have been made. However, there are certain cases of conversion where the consent itself is a result of the brainwashing or grooming of a minor by the non-Hindu perpetrator trying to victimise a woman for her Hindu religious identity. The phenomenon of grooming points to non-Hindu perpetrators identifying their Hindu victims’ vulnerabilities and exploiting them over months and sometimes years, to extract the supposed ‘consent’ in order to convert their religion. In most cases of grooming, the victims are minors or the grooming started when the victim was a minor. In other cases of grooming, the non-Hindu perpetrator brainwashes and grooms a minor victim to extract their trust and then proceeds to rape them repeatedly with the intent of converting them to their faith. It is pertinent to understand here that when the victim is a minor, the ‘consent’ to convert or enter into a romantic relationship with an adult itself is redundant – addressed by POCSO. While every case of conversion of a minor and incidents of establishing a physical relationship with a minor by an adult is a crime, for the purpose of this database, a case would be considered a hate crime only if there is a distinct religious angle to the grooming. For example, in the UK, if a Hindu minor is targeted by Pakistani grooming gangs, it would be considered a hate crime because the victims are specifically targeted owing to their non-Muslim religious identity with the perpetrators being Muslim. In other cases, if a Hindu minor is brainwashed into entering a physical relationship with the non-Hindu adult perpetrator and the family alleges grooming/brainwashing of the minor to convert her religion, it would form a part of this database. If the victim is a Hindu adult, the case would form a part of this database only if the victim herself says that she was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. However, if the victim is deceased (murdered or otherwise), the case would form a part of this database if her family/friends provided testimony that the victim was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. Since these crimes have a distinct religious angle where the victim is being targeted owing to her Hindu religious identity, these cases are considered a hate crime. The case of Pooja (name changed), a 17-year-old girl from Surat, Gujarat, is a clear example of a religiously motivated crime, where coercion, kidnapping, and manipulation were used to force her conversion to Islam before marriage. Dilshad, the perpetrator, persistently pursued Pooja despite her refusals and ultimately abducted her, taking her across multiple locations and isolating her from her support system. Once in Bihar, she was forced into marriage through threats, with the involvement of Dilshad’s family and a maulana, who formalized the conversion process. Pooja’s identity was systematically stripped away as she was made to change her name, wear a burqa, and follow Islamic practices, such as performing namaz. These actions, which were enforced against her will, signify a deliberate effort to force her to abandon her Hindu identity and adopt a different religious practice under duress. The fact that Pooja overheard conversations indicating that her forced conversion and marriage might have been motivated by financial gain further emphasizes the premeditated and exploitative nature of the crime. Her kidnapping, forced conversion, and manipulation into a religious marriage were not isolated acts but part of a broader pattern of religiously motivated coercion. This incident highlights how forced conversions through manipulation, intimidation, and physical coercion constitute hate crimes, as they target individuals based on their religious identity, seeking to erase or exploit it for ulterior motives.
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 1
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
