Minor Hindu girl deceived and blackmailed for sexual exploitation by Muslim youth faking Hindu identity
Banswara, Rajasthan, India 
26 September, 2025
Case Summary
In Banswara, Rajasthan, a 17-year-old Hindu girl was deceived and blackmailed for sexual exploitation by a Muslim youth named Rihan Khan, who pretended to be Hindu to trap her. According to reports, the victim came into contact with the accused during her coaching sessions by introducing himself as a Hindu man named Rihan Trivedi. He deceived her, befriended her and obtained obscene materials during their chats. He then blackmailed her and was pressuring her to send photos and videos. On 27 September 2025, during the Navratri festival, while the victim was playing Garba in the Ambamata temple complex, the accused stalked her and intercepted her at around 11:30 pm. He snatched her mobile phone, car keys and hair clip, and attempted to force her to accompany him. When she resisted, the situation escalated, leading to a dispute between the two, drawing the attention of the crowd. Locals and activists from Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal, who were present at the event, grew suspicious of the boy’s behaviour and intervened, apprehending him for questioning. During initial questioning by the crowd, the boy presented an identification card claiming to be Aarav Trivedi. However, upon closer scrutiny, the ID was found to be fake, and his real identity was revealed. The crowd handed him over to the Rajtalab police station for further investigation. The victim's mother filed a complaint with the police, expressing grave concern that her daughter's dignity was at risk due to the blackmail and indecent conduct, and demanded strict action. During interrogation, the accused revealed that he was Rihan Khan and that he was a Muslim. Police registered a case against the accused and sent the victim for a medical examination. As of the date of writing this report, the investigation was ongoing.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category in this case is: Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. The first subcategory under this is: Man pretends to be Hindu. The tertiary category under this is: Name changed. When a non-Hindu man pretends to be a Hindu to deceive a Hindu woman into a relationship, the act is seen as triggered by malafide intentions. In some cases, the woman eventually accepts the man’s original religious identity and converts after the man’s identity is revealed. These cases could be argued as cases of religious brainwashing and a result of the pressure a woman feels after getting into a relationship with a man. The woman, it can be argued, also changed her religious identity because of the stigma she believes she might face if she chooses to walk out of a deceptive relationship. However, for the purpose of documenting hate crimes, the cases in this subcategory are limited to those where there is explicit violence aimed at religious conversion against the wishes of the victim (force-feeding beef, blackmailing with intimate videos, rape on refusal to convert, etc), or if the woman herself complains of the man’s religious deception. In such cases, it is established that the deception of the non-Hindu man had a specific aim of religious conversion or targeting of the victim due to her Hindu religious identity, therefore, making it a religiously motivated hate crime. The other sub-category selected is - Brainwashed and/or groomed, with the tertiary category being - Rape and sexual assault/harassment. 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. This case has been added to the tracker because a minor Hindu girl was lured into a relationship by a Muslim man, who pretended to be Hindu to trap her. The perpetrator deliberately concealed his religious identity to initiate and sustain a relationship with a Hindu girl. This itself is a clear manifestation of bias and malicious intent towards the victim's religion. By concealing his true identity, he exploited her trust, targeting her under false pretences. This indicates a premeditated intent to manipulate her based on her religious background. In cases like these, the tactic of adopting a false Hindu identity to manipulate and "ensnare" a Hindu individual is not just an act of personal betrayal but can also be interpreted as an expression of disdain or disregard for Hinduism and its customs, reflecting a deeper animosity towards Hindus and their beliefs. He then deceived her, obtained obscene material, and blackmailed her for sexual exploitation. He even intercepted her during the Navratri festival and pressured her to accompany him. This further proves that the accused was not interested in a genuine relationship with the Hindu girl; instead, his only goal was sexual exploitation, rooted in religious animosity. It is important to note here that the victim was a minor and thus incapable of providing informed consent to a relationship or any other such activities. It is a well-established fact that children are more susceptible to manipulation since they are still developing emotionally, cognitively, and socially. Their brains are not fully mature, making them more vulnerable. This case demonstrates a calculated strategy of targeting those who are less able to resist or understand the long-term implications of entering a relationship, making it a significant case of a religiously motivated hate crime. Furthermore, any supposed consent given by the victim is already considered invalid under the POCSO Act. Such acts are not merely criminal in nature; they are ideologically charged, revealing religious prejudice and a calculated intent to exploit the victim based on her religious identity. The use of grooming, where trust is built only to exploit, is an insidious method that takes advantage of the child’s naivety and dependence. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case has specified the exact date when the victim's ordeal began. The earliest date mentioned is 27 September 2025, when she was intercepted by the accused during the Navratri festival. Since Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began and not when it was reported, we have considered the date of the incident as 27 September 2025.
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
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
