Shadab and Shoaib harass minor Dalit girl, blackmail her with obscene pictures, pressurise her for marriage, hurl casteist slurs
Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India 
27 April, 2024
Case Summary
In Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, a minor girl from the Dalit community was molested by two Muslim men named Shadab and Shoaib on April 28, 2024. The victim's father filed a complaint against them on May 10. He revealed that they live in a Muslim-dominated area and the accused have a history of sexually harassing and misbehaving with girls. The police registered an FIR and initiated an investigation. In addition to forcing the girl to accept their number, Shadab and Shoaib started pushing her for marriage. They began taking offensive photos of her and used them to blackmail her. On April 28, while the girl was on her way somewhere, Shadab and Shoaib subjected her to lewd behaviour. She confided in her brother the next day. Despite the brother's warning on April 30, the harassment continued, accompanied by casteist slurs towards the Dalit boy. They also threatened to eliminate the victim’s entire family over the phone and revealed that they had previously been the subject of many complaints. Shoaib, the second accused, is known for cattle smuggling, with a previous complaint filed against him. When inquired about the reason behind their heinous actions, the victim's father said that the Muslims in the area wanted them to leave their house. He identified himself as a devotee of Lord Shiva and raised concerns for his son’s safety.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case qualifies as a religiously motivated hate crime under multiple prime and sub-categories. There are three prime categories of the hate tracker within which this case has been placed. The first prime category is- Hate Crimes against women in relationships and sexual crimes. Under this, the sub-category chosen is- Brainwashed and/or groomed. Further, as per case details, two tertiary categories have been selected under this sub-category, namely, 'Pattern of targeting Hindu minors' and 'Rape and sexual assault/harassment'. 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 hate crimes. The second prime category selected here is- Attack not resulting in death. Under this, the sub-category chosen is- Attacked to induce migration from non-Hindu dominated area- There have been cases where the Hindus living in an area, often with a majority dwelling belonging to non-Hindus or those harbouring animosity towards the Hindu faith, the Hindu residents experience threats and violence. The violence is employed with the aim of making the Hindus leave the area and relocate, so the area could be turned into an exclusive ghetto for adherents of the non-Hindu faith or those who harbor animosity towards the Hindu faith. In several cases, the aim of exodus is explicit. However, in several cases, the demand for exodus of Hindu residents is not explicit, however, violence by non-Hindu residents leaves the Hindu residents no option but to leave the area, thereby, turning the area into an exclusive ghetto of non-Hindu residents. In such cases, there are instances violence against the Hindu residents explicitly. For example, in the Hauz Qazi case of 2019, the Muslim residents claimed that mob violence against the Hindu residents had been triggered by a parking dispute. However, the violence did turn religious with a temple being desecrated and was directed specifically against the Hindu residents. The Hindu residents of the area were clear that the violence was religiously motivated and one of the motives was to affect an exodus of the Hindu residents. In such cases, even though the perpetrators have not explicitly expressed the aim of affecting exodus, the given circumstances and violence and precedent point to the intention of exodus and therefore would be categorized under this sub-category. Such crimes are religiously motivated and therefore are hate crimes. The third prime category relevant here is- Hate speech against Hindus. Under this two sub-categories have been selected. The first is- Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith- Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. The second sub-category selected under the above-mentioned third prime category is- Violent threats- Violent threats, explicit, implicit or implied, is the most dangerous form of hate speech since it goes beyond discriminatory and prejudicial language to express the intent of causing harm to an individual or a group of people based on their religious identity and faith. There could be several different kinds of threats that are issued to Hindus based on religious animosity. An explicit threat would mean the direct threat of violence towards an individual Hindu, a group of Hindus or Hindus at large. Physical violence, death threats, threats of destruction of property belonging to Hindus and threats of genocide would mean explicit threats against Hindus for their religious identity. Implicit threats may not be a direct threat but implied through the use of symbols of actions – for example – in the Nupur Sharma case, other than explicit threats, there were also implicit threats when Islamists took to the streets to burn and beat her effigies. It implies that they want to do the same to Nupur Sharma – thereby is considered an implicit threat. Violent threats can be delivered in person, through letters, phone calls, graffiti, or increasingly through social media and other online platforms. It would be important to understand that a threat – explicit or implicit, online or offline – to an individual who happens to be a Hindu does not qualify as a religiously motivated threat. Such a threat, while vile and dangerous, could be owing to non-religious reasons and/or personal animosity. To qualify as a religiously motivated threat, it would need to exhibit an indication that the individual is being targeted for religious reasons and/or owing to his/her religious identity as a Hindu. This incident qualifies as a religiously motivated hate crime in multiple ways. First, it is a clear case of grooming, where the minor Hindu girl was harassed by two Muslim men, Shadab and Shoaib. They not only molested her but also pressured her into accepting their advances and marriage proposals, which reflects a pattern often seen in targeting Hindu girls. The use of offensive photos for blackmail further exemplifies the predatory behaviour aimed at controlling and manipulating the girl, which is a hallmark of grooming tactics. Secondly, the victim’s father expressed concerns about being forced to leave their home in the Muslim-majority area, suggesting that the harassment was not just personal but aimed at creating an environment of fear and intimidation to drive out Hindu families. This kind of targeted pressure is often used to change the demographic makeup of an area by making it uncomfortable for religious minorities to remain. The fact that the victim’s father raised concerns about his family’s safety in a predominantly Muslim area points to the religious hostility they faced. The harassment of the girl, coupled with casteist slurs and religious mockery, underscores the religious animosity driving the crime, making it a clear case of religiously motivated hate.
Victim Details
Total Victim
2
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 2
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 0
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
