Minor Hindu girl harassed, molested, threatened with an acid attack for religious conversion and Nikah by five Muslim youths in Rajasthan
Tonk, Rajasthan, India 
25 September, 2025
Case Summary
In the Tonk district of Rajasthan, a 13-year-old Hindu girl was repeatedly harassed, sexually molested, and threatened with an acid attack for religious conversion and Nikah (Islamic marriage) by five Muslim youths. According to reports, the five Muslim youths, Amir Mewati, Saddam Mewati, Tahir Mewati, Rahil Mewati, and Hameed Mewati, had been stalking the victim for several days. They followed her while she was going to and from her coaching centre, passing lewd comments and threatening her with religious conversion and Nikah. On 26 September 2025, the situation escalated when the Muslim youths again intercepted the girl while she was on her way home from her coaching centre. They demanded she convert to Islam and undergo Nikah with one of them. They threatened her with an acid attack and abduction if she refused to comply. The girl contacted Child Helpline 1098 and informed her coaching centre director, a Hindu man named Hemraj, about the ongoing harassment. Hemraj confronted the Muslim youths and warned them against further harassment. However, this enraged the youths, who later returned along with others, armed with weapons, and vandalised the coaching centre before attacking Hemraj. They dragged him outside and brutally assaulted him with sticks, fists, and kicks. Videos of the attack soon went viral on social media, drawing widespread condemnation from residents and Hindu organisations. Eyewitnesses reported scenes of chaos as furniture was smashed, and staff members were beaten. The minor victim then filed a formal complaint against 25 individuals, including the five youths. Two of the accused were detained, while police carried out raids to apprehend the others. The incident sparked widespread outrage among local residents, who staged a sit-in protest at Bara intersection on National Highway 52, calling for the immediate arrest of all accused and for the safety of the victim. Tensions rose further when members of the Muslim community also gathered on the other side and shouted abuse, but police promptly intervened and prevented the situation from escalating further.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Predatory proselytisation. Under this, the sub-category selected is - Proselytisation by brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. Within this, the tertiary category selected is- Conversion of Minor and Rape and sexual harassment/assault. Religious brainwashing essentially means the often subtle and forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up their religious beliefs to accept contrasting, regimented ideas. Religious grooming or brainwashing also involves propaganda and manipulation. It involves the systematic effort, driven by religious malice and indoctrination, to persuade “non-believers’ to accept allegiance, command, or doctrine to and of a contrasting faith. Cases of such grooming or brainwashing are far more nuanced than direct threats, coercion, inducement and violence. In such cases, it is often seen that there is repeated, subtle and continual manipulation of the victim to induce disaffection towards their own faith and acceptance of the contrasting faith of the perpetrator. While subtle indoctrination is widely acknowledged as predatory, an element which is often understated in such conversions or the attempts of such conversion is the role of loyalty and trust which might develop between the perpetrator and the victim. Fiduciary relationships are often abused to affect such religious conversion. For example, an educator transmitting religious doctrine of a competing faith to a Hindu student. The Hindu student is likely to accept what the teacher is transmitting owing to existence of the fiduciary relationship. The exploitation of the fiduciary relationship to religiously indoctrinate victims would also be included in this category. Since the underlying animosity towards the victim’s faith forms the basis of predatory proselytization, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. The other sub-category selected here is - Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion. Harassment covers a wide range of behaviours of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, including threats and coercion. Harassment and threats, in this case, find their root on discriminatory grounds which has the effect of nullifying a person’s rights or infringing upon his freedom to exercise his right specifically owing to the victim’s religious identity. Verbal and physical threats and psychological or physical harassment are often used against Hindu victims because they choose to practice their professed religion. Religious harassment also includes forced and involuntary conversions by harassment, threats or coercion. Coercion includes intimidatory tactics like force-feeding a Hindu victim beef to convert to another religion, forceful circumcision etc. In several cases documented, non-Hindu perpetrators or those who harbour specific animosity towards Hinduism, harass victims simply based on their religious identity. Such cases often also include harassment to ensure the Hindu victim abandons his/her professed religion and adopts the religion of the perpetrator. Such cases where Hindu victims are harassed to convert to the perpetrator’s religion are rooted in animosity towards the victim’s religious identity and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. The second primary category selected here is - Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Within it, the sub-category selected is - Forced conversion before marriage with the tertiary category being - Forced to undergo Nikah. 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. In such cases, typically, two patterns emerge. First, when the relationship is 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. The second is when the woman gets into a marriage with the man pretending to share her faith. Later, when the truth is revealed, the man starts pressuring the woman to convert her religion and give up her religious identity. In both situations, 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 pressurising 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. The third primary category selected here is - Attack not resulting in death. With it, the sub-category selected here is - Attacked for refusal to convert. When there is pressure, threat or coercion employed upon the Hindu victim to convert to a different religion, in several cases, the victim refuses to succumb to the pressure/threats. Once the victim refuses, the perpetrator proceeds to attack/assault the victim owing to his/her refusal to convert. In such cases, the pressure/threat/intimidation/coercion/violence itself is driven by animosity towards the victim’s Hindu faith. The violence then, is another hate crime driven by the victim’s refusal to abandon his professed faith, Hinduism, and convert to the religion of a non-Hindu perpetrator. Since the victim’s faith is at the heart of the pressure to convert and the ensuing violence towards the victim, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. The other sub-category selected here is - Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim. In several cases, Hindus are attacked for opposing religiously motivated crimes being committed against a fellow Hindu or simply for voicing an opinion opposing radical elements, who either have in the past or continue to persecute Hindus. In such cases, the initial attack against the victim, against which the Hindu was trying to defend the victim, would also need to be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime. Since the initial crime itself was religiously motivated and the subsequent crime of attempting to save the victim or speaking against the radical elements ends up inviting a violent attack, it would also be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. This case has been added to the tracker because a minor Hindu girl was repeatedly harassed, sexually molested, and threatened with an acid attack for religious conversion and Nikah (Islamic marriage) by five Muslim youths. The accused also molested her and threatened her with abduction if she refused to comply. The purpose of this act was to destroy her religious identity. In the Islamic faith, the conversion of the non-Muslim partner was seen as a prerequisite for Nikah, which was why the minor girl was pressured for religious conversion. The purpose of forced religious conversion reveals the intent of the accused to strip the victim of her Hindu identity and impose an Islamic one upon her. Forced conversions such as this do not occur in a vacuum; they are rooted in deep‑seated hostility towards the faith of the victim, which makes this a clear case of a crime driven by religious hatred. Even sexual molestation and threats of violence by the accused served a dual purpose of physical subjugation and religious humiliation. The intention was to break the victim down emotionally, physically and spiritually, so that she could be converted for Nikah. This was not random violence; it was systematic, targeted, and rooted in religious animosity. When she refused to comply, the threats escalated to abduction and acid attacks in order to make her comply, demonstrating that the violence was directly tied to her refusal to give up her Hindu faith. It is further important to note here that the victim was a minor, which means the element of consent and genuine change of conscience was missing ab initio. Minors, due to their young age and lack of maturity, are particularly vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. They may not have the ability to fully understand the implications of converting to another religion or consenting to Nikah/marriage, and the Muslim perpetrators purposely targeted and exploited this vulnerability of the victim. Additionally, any supposed consent given in such cases is already considered invalid under the POCSO Act. Since this case exemplifies the use of coercion and manipulation to achieve religious conversion, it is a blatant act of religious hate, which is why it has been documented here in the hate tracker. Such acts are not merely criminal in nature; they are ideologically charged, revealing religious prejudice and a calculated intent to alter the religious identity of a minor without her volition. Such actions stem from inherent hostility towards the victim's professed faith. Therefore, religious conversions, even of minors, are often seen as a badge of honour, totally disregarding the methods used to achieve it. Since such predatory actions stem from doctrinal animosity towards the Hindu faith and its adherents, this case is being documented as a religiously motivated hate crime. Furthermore, when the Hindu man, Hemraj, attempted to intervene and prevent harassment of the victim, he was met with brutal violence by the Muslim youths. He was physically assaulted with sticks by members of the Muslim community, who also vandalised the coaching centre and beat the staff. This assault was not just personal vengeance; it was punishment for resisting an attempt at religious conversion. It was a statement for the wider Hindu community that if you try to oppose the actions of Muslims, you will be met with a similar fate. The attack on Hemraj and the vandalism of the centre represent a coordinated attempt to enforce compliance through fear, reinforcing the hate-driven nature of the crime. These events unmistakably illustrate the religious motivation behind this crime. The victim was targeted because she was Hindu, sexually violated, and then pressured to adopt another religion against her will. Hemraj was attacked for defending her right to remain true to her faith. This fits the definition of a hate crime, and hence it is being added to the hate crime database. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case have specified the exact date when the victim's ordeal began. The earliest date mentioned is 26 September 2025, when she was threatened with an acid attack, along with the ensuing violence. 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 26 September 2025.
Victim Details
Total Victim
2
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 2
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Case sub-judice
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 10 to 100
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
