Minor Hindu girl lured and abducted for religious conversion by Muslim man in Darbhanga, Bihar

Case ID : 30a7526 | Location : Darbhanga, Bihar, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 3 March, 2026

Case ID : 30a7526

Darbhanga, Bihar, India

3 March, 2026

Minor Hindu girl lured and abducted for religious conversion by Muslim man in Darbhanga, Bihar

Predatory Proselytisation

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Conversion of minor

Family claims grooming

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Case Summary

In the Kewati area of Darbhanga district, Bihar, a 16-year-old Hindu minor girl was abducted by a Muslim man named Mohammad Faisal alias Ali. The victim's family expressed concerns regarding the forced religious conversion of the victim by the accused. According to the victim’s family, the accused, Mohammad Faisal alias Ali, had been a friend of the girl’s brother and used to frequently visit their home, where he was treated like a family member, regularly eating and spending time with them. When the minor victim went missing on 4 March 2026, and initial searches among relatives and acquaintances yielded no results, the victim's family began to suspect Faisal. Upon being questioned, he initially denied any knowledge of her whereabouts but subsequently began avoiding the family and switched off his mobile phone. The victim’s mother stated that Faisal, along with certain family members and a local youth identified as Prem Kumar Bhagat, was involved in abducting the minor. She also stated that she feared for her daughter’s safety and the accused abducted her for religious conversion. Despite the registration of Case No. 67/26 at the Kewati police station, the victim remained untraceable. Subsequently, the victim's family approached senior officials, including the DIG, City SP, and the Director General of Police, through formal complaints and email. The victim’s mother stated that her daughter, a Class 9 student, lacked the maturity to understand the situation, while the adult accused exploited this vulnerability to lure her away. Police officials, including Kamtaul SDPO SK Suman, stated during preliminary inquiry that the girl and the accused were known to each other and that the minor had gone with him.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. Within this, the subcategory selected is-- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected is- Conversion of Minor and Family claims grooming. 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. This case has been added to the tracker because a minor Hindu girl was lured and abducted by the Muslim accused, Mohammad Faisal alias Ali. The victim's family stated that the accused abducted her for forced religious conversion. The victim, being a minor, was in a position of inherent vulnerability, which was exploited by the accused, who had gained the trust of the family by frequently visiting their home and presenting himself as a close associate. Such access enabled him to build familiarity and lower the family’s guard, creating conditions conducive to targeting the minor. The victim's family expressed fear regarding the forced religious conversion of the victim. Therefore, the act of luring the minor victim extended beyond mere abduction and pointed towards a deeper pattern of coercion aimed at altering the victim’s religious identity. 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, and the Muslim perpetrator purposely targeted and exploited this vulnerability of the victim. Since this case exemplifies the use of coercion and manipulation to achieve religious conversion, it is a blatant act of religious hate. Pressuring or influencing a Hindu minor to abandon her faith, especially through deceit or manipulation, constitutes a direct attack on her religious freedom and dignity. It was not a matter of personal choice; it was coercion rooted in hostility towards the victim's Hindu identity. Such an attempt reflects religious animosity because the act was not simply about personal differences but about erasing the victim’s Hindu faith, making it a religiously motivated crime In such cases, the method of targeting, establishing trust, exploiting personal relationships, and then isolating the victim reflects a calculated approach rather than an impulsive act. The accused’s behaviour following the disappearance, including evasion and switching off his phone, further reinforced the act of deliberate wrongdoing. The involvement of additional individuals, as indicated by the family, suggested the possibility of a broader network facilitating the act. 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 since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent to the faith is subject to being dehumanised till they convert. 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. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when an event occurred or when the victim's ordeal began. It is important to clarify that the report does not specify the exact date when the accused came into contact with the victim. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the victim went missing, 4 March 2026.