Muslim duo convert a girl to Islam by brainwashing her through videos of a controversial Islamic preacher, arrested
Thane, Maharashtra, India 
2 August, 2024
Case Summary
In Ulhasnagar's Vitthalwadi area, a woman and a man were arrested in connection with a religious conversion case following a complaint by the woman’s mother. The complaint, filed on Thursday, alleged that the daughter had been forcibly converted to Islam after being influenced by a nearby family and watching videos of a controversial Islamic preacher. The conversion reportedly occurred in June 2022 while the complainant was in London. The mother also said that she received a letter from the Ulhasnagar and Ambarnath Mosque Trust, confirming her daughter's conversion. Additionally, she stated that her daughter later went missing and had withdrawn money from her father’s account. The police confirmed that the mother believed her daughter had been brainwashed.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
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 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 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 indoctrinated 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. In this case, a Muslim duo converted a girl to Islam through brainwashing and subtle indoctrination. According to the victim's mother, the duo manipulated her daughter into renouncing her religion and converting to Islam by exposing her to videos of a controversial Islamic preacher. The fact that these videos helped brainwash an individual to adopt an alien faith itself proves that the content was extremely radical in nature. Employing such materials to influence someone's conversion can be seen as an act of hate, as it promotes Islamic superiority and incites animosity toward one's own religion. It spreads intolerance and divisive beliefs. In conclusion, converting a woman to Islam through brainwashing with controversial material is not only a violation of her personal freedom but also a manifestation of religious intolerance and hate. It reveals an underlying hostility toward the woman's original faith and represents an attempt to enforce religious conformity through coercive methods, making it a religiously motivated hate crime.
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
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
