Minor Hindu girl lured into relationship, forced to convert to Islam, and renamed

Case ID : 0d798b5 | Location : Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 24 May, 2025

Case ID : 0d798b5

Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India

24 May, 2025

Minor Hindu girl lured into relationship, forced to convert to Islam, and renamed

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Brainwashed and/or groomed

Conversion of minor

Forced conversion before marriage

Case Summary

In Bhopal's Aishbagh area, a 16-year-old Hindu girl was lured into a romantic relationship by a Muslim man named Zubair. The accused deceived her with promises of a glamorous modelling career. He then persuaded her to leave her home and move to Ratlam along with him. There, he pressured the minor to convert to Islam and changed her name. Hinduphobia Tracker spoke to the police regarding the case. The police confirmed that the girl was a Hindu minor who had been lured away by Zubair and coerced into adopting Islam. According to reports, Zubair told the girl that he had connections with modelling agencies and could help her become a successful model. The two became friends and later romantic relationship developed between them. On 25th May 2025, Zubair enticed the girl to leave her home and took her to Ratlam. There, he promised to marry her and began pressuring her to convert. He also changed her name, giving her a new Muslim identity. When the girl left home, her father informed the police. The police arrested the accused in Ratlam, safely recovered the girl, and returned her to her family. Subsequently, a case was registered at Aishbagh police station based on the complaint of the victim and her family. Zubair was arrested and remanded in custody. Station in-charge Vijay Bahadur Singh Sengar stated that, so far, a case of kidnapping had been registered, and further charges would be investigated. After the case came to light, Hindu organisations staged a significant protest in Bhopal. On 29 May 2025, a large number of activists, along with the victim’s family, gathered at Aishbagh police station. They demanded strict action from the police. The organisations said that Zubair had deliberately entrapped the minor for conversion and attempted to erase her identity. Protesters described the incident as a conspiracy against Hindu society and called for stringent laws to address such cases. The police attempted to pacify the protestors and assured them of an impartial investigation into the matter.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Crimes against Women in relationship and other sexual crimes. The subcategory selected is- Brainwashed and/or groomed. The tertiary category selected is - Conversion of Minor. 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 other subcategory selected is- 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. 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 the 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 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. In this case, the minor Hindu girl was befriended and lured into a relationship by Zubair, who subsequently forced her to adopt Islam. The perpetrator sought to further the objective of religious conversion and, to this end, entrapped the minor. Here, the perpetrator deliberately exploited the girl's vulnerability, gained her trust, manipulated her by promising to fulfil her dreams, and then forced her to convert to Islam and changed her name. This reveals a clear pattern of manipulation, grooming, and exploitation of the victim based on her religion. The perpetrator’s central motive was to convert the victim to Islam, and these acts stem from deep-seated religious disdain and animosity towards Hindus and Hinduism. The perpetrator’s actions went far beyond a mere personal relationship. He used deception and manipulation, promising the girl a modelling career to gain her trust and lure her away from her family and community, thereby making her vulnerable before forcing her to adopt Islam. Such acts of manipulation and forced conversion are not only a violation of personal freedom and human rights but also a direct attack on the victim’s religious and cultural identity. By targeting a Hindu minor and coercing her to abandon her faith, Zubair’s actions can be seen as an attempt to undermine Hindus and their faith. These acts are particularly egregious when directed at vulnerable individuals, as they exploit the victim’s age and impressionability, making the crime not only a matter of personal harm but also a broader assault on the community’s sense of security and belonging. It is also important to mention that since the victim, in this case, is a minor, there was an absence of both consent and a genuine change of conscience. 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 to influence and less capable of critically evaluating information. Moreover, subtle manipulation tactics can be difficult to detect, making it challenging for parents to identify and address instances of religious manipulation. Consequently, cases involving religious manipulation of minors not only represent an infringement on an individual's religious freedom but also demonstrate a calculated strategy of targeting those who are less able to resist or understand the long-term implications of conversion, making it a significant case of religious-motivated hate crime. By forcing a minor Hindu girl to convert and changing her name, the perpetrator’s actions were not only criminal but also deeply symbolic, representing an attack on the religious and cultural fabric of Hindu society. All of this stems from deep-seated disdain and hatred for the victim's Hindu identity. As this case is an instance of a hate crime against a Hindu individual, it is being added to the hate crime database. Disclaimer: Media reports do not specify exactly when the victim’s ordeal began or when she first met the perpetrator, but they do mention that the accused lured her away from her home and then forced her to convert on 25th May 2025. Therefore, Hinduphobia Tracker is using this date as the date of the incident.