Hindu minor girl groomed on Instagram by Muslim youth who used false Hindu name to lure her
Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh, India 
22 March, 2026
Case Summary
A Hindu minor girl from the Kesla area, Hoshangabad district, Madhya Pradesh, was groomed on Instagram by a Muslim youth named Joeb Khan from Datoda village, Simrol police station area, Mahu, Indore district. Khan concealed his Muslim identity and used a Hindu name on Instagram to befriend and groom her, and later lured her to Indore, and began living with her in a rented house in the Devnagar area of the MIG police station, Indore. According to reports, Joeb Khan concealed his Muslim identity and used a Hindu name on Instagram to befriend the Hindu minor girl from the Kesla area, Hoshangabad district. Using this false Hindu identity, he gradually cultivated her trust and drew her into a romantic relationship. He then lured her to Indore under the influence of his sustained grooming and began living with her in a rented house in the Devnagar area under the jurisdiction of MIG police station, Indore. The Hindu minor girl had already been reported missing from Hoshangabad at the time of her discovery. Local residents in the Devnagar area grew suspicious of Joeb Khan's activities and informed Hindu organisation workers about the situation. Hindu organisation workers arrived at the location, apprehended Joeb Khan, and handed him over to the police. Upon searching his mobile phone, police found objectionable videos and photographs of multiple girls, revealing that the Hindu minor girl was not the only victim of Joeb Khan's predatory conduct and that he had recorded such material from multiple other girls as well. Kesla police station officers travelled to Indore upon receiving information about the discovery of the missing Hindu minor girl and took her into their custody, subsequently handing her over to Hoshangabad police. Joe Khan was formally arrested, and statutory legal action was initiated against him. The investigation was ongoing at the time of reporting this incident.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case qualified as a religiously motivated hate crime and was added to the tracker under the category- Predatory proselytisation. Under this, the subcategory selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected within this is "Pattern of targeting Hindus.' 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 the 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 proselytisation, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. The other category selected here is- Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Under this, the subcategory selected is- Man pretends to be Hindu. When a non-Hindu man pretends to be a Hindu to deceive a Hindu woman into a relationship, the act is seen as triggered by malafide intentions. In some cases, the woman eventually accepts the man’s original religious identity and converts after the man’s identity is revealed. These cases could be argued as cases of religious brainwashing and a result of the pressure a woman feels after getting into a relationship with a man. The woman, it can be argued, also changed her religious identity because of the stigma she believes she might face if she chooses to walk out of a deceptive relationship. However, for the purpose of documenting hate crimes, the cases in this subcategory are limited to those where there is explicit violence aimed at religious conversion against the wishes of the victim (force-feeding beef, blackmailing with intimate videos, rape on refusal to convert, etc), or if the woman herself complains of the man’s religious deception. In such cases, it is established that the deception of the non-Hindu man had a specific aim of religious conversion or targeting of the victim due to her Hindu religious identity, therefore, making it a religiously motivated hate crime. The other subcategory selected is- Brainwashed and/or groomed, and the tertiary category selected is- Pattern of targeting Hindu women. When a non-Hindu man pretends to be a Hindu to deceive a Hindu woman into a relationship, the act is seen as triggered by malafide intentions. In some cases, the woman eventually accepts the man’s original religious identity and converts after the man’s identity is revealed. These cases could be argued as cases of religious brainwashing and a result of the pressure a woman feels after getting into a relationship with a man. The woman, it can be argued, also changed her religious identity because of the stigma she believes she might face if she chooses to walk out of a deceptive relationship. However, for the purpose of documenting hate crimes, the cases in this subcategory are limited to those where there is explicit violence aimed at religious conversion against the wishes of the victim (force-feeding beef, blackmailing with intimate videos, rape on refusal to convert, etc), or if the woman herself complains of the man’s religious deception. In such cases, it is established that the deception of the non-Hindu man had a specific aim of religious conversion or targeting of the victim due to her Hindu religious identity, therefore, making it a religiously motivated hate crime. This case bears clear indicators of a religiously motivated hate crime as it involves the deliberate targeting, grooming, and manipulation of a Hindu minor girl by a Muslim perpetrator who concealed his religious identity in order to gain her trust. The accused adopted a false Hindu identity on social media, which was a calculated strategy to bypass the natural social and religious boundaries that would otherwise have prevented such access. This act of deception was not incidental but central to the crime, as it enabled the perpetrator to establish a relationship under false pretences and initiate a process of grooming aimed at control and exploitation. A key marker in this case is the concealment of religious identity, which reflects a broader pattern where Hindu victims are specifically targeted through impersonation and emotional manipulation. By presenting himself as a Hindu, the accused created a false sense of familiarity and safety, allowing him to gradually influence the victim’s thoughts, emotions, and decisions. This process of grooming and psychological conditioning constitutes a form of brainwashing, where the victim is slowly detached from her existing support systems and drawn into dependence on the perpetrator. The fact that the victim was a minor is a critical aggravating factor. By definition, a minor lacks the legal and psychological capacity to give informed consent, particularly in matters involving relationships, cohabitation, or religious change. This means that any claim of voluntary involvement or genuine change of belief is invalid from the outset. 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 in this case deliberately exploited this vulnerability. The targeting of a minor therefore demonstrates a heightened level of predation, where the victim was chosen precisely because she was easier to influence and control. The subsequent act of luring the victim away from her home and relocating her to another city further reflects an attempt to isolate her from her family and community, thereby increasing her dependence on the perpetrator. Isolation is a well-established tactic in grooming cases, as it reduces the likelihood of intervention and strengthens the perpetrator’s control over the victim’s environment and decisions. This step indicates that the intent went beyond a casual relationship and formed part of a structured process aimed at long-term control and potential religious conversion. The recovery of objectionable material involving multiple girls from the accused’s mobile phone further establishes that this was not an isolated incident but part of a repeated pattern of predatory behaviour. The existence of multiple victims demonstrates that the accused systematically targeted vulnerable individuals, reinforcing the conclusion that this was a deliberate and sustained modus operandi rather than a one-off occurrence. Taken together, the deliberate concealment of religious identity, the grooming and psychological manipulation of a Hindu minor, the exploitation of her vulnerability, the attempt to isolate her from her family, and the evidence of repeated targeting of multiple victims demonstrate that this case was driven by a structured pattern of predatory proselytisation and exploitation. Since this case exemplifies the use of coercion and manipulation to achieve religious conversion, it constitutes a blatant act of religious hate. Accordingly, this case displays clear markers of a religiously motivated hate crime and has been recorded in the Hinduphobia Tracker database.
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
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
