Hindu minor students harassed, brainwashed to eat beef and coerced to convert to Islam by Muslim teacher in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh
Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, India 
5 April, 2026
Case Summary
In Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, Hindu students studying at a coaching centre were brainwashed, harassed, manipulated to consume beef and coerced to convert by a Muslim teacher identified as Sohil Ahmed Khan. The incident took place at Study World Classes, located in the Mission Compound area under the City Kotwali police station limits. Sohil Ahmed Khan, a resident of Maharaj Nagar, Pulia No. 9, was teaching English at the coaching centre. Students stated that during classes, instead of limiting himself to academic instruction, he made objectionable remarks against Hinduism and Hindu gods. He referred to Hindu deities as pakhandi and spoke ill of the Hindu faith during teaching sessions. The students further stated that Sohil Ahmed Khan advised Hindu students to consume beef and repeatedly discussed Islam during classes. He exerted pressure on students to accept Islam and attempted to influence them mentally through repeated religious discussions in the classroom. Female Hindu students stated that he obtained their mobile numbers on the pretext of providing notes and study material. Thereafter, he began sending them messages late at night, including objectionable messages, and asked the girls to message him after 11 pm. When the students raised these concerns before the coaching centre director, Ravi Nagoria, and his wife, Sohil Ahmed Khan, threatened the students in front of others and stated that no one could do anything against him. Students also stated that he threatened to ruin their future and warned that he could stop teaching, thereby jeopardising their studies. It was also stated that he later left the coaching centre and began teaching at another institute in Mauranipur without informing the enrolled students, despite advance fees having already been taken. The affected students and their families thereafter approached the SSP office and submitted a written complaint. On 6 April 2026, an FIR was registered at Kotwali police station on the basis of the complaint, and police initiated an investigation into the matter. Statements of the students and concerned persons were recorded. Thereafter, Sohil Ahmed Khan was arrested and sent to jail for further proceedings. During the preliminary inquiry, police also noted that there had been a dispute between the coaching centre operator and the teacher over certain issues, which was also brought under investigation along with the students’ complaint
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category for this case is "Predatory Proselytisation". The sub-category for this case is "Harassment, threats, coercion to 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. Another sub-category selected for this case is "Attempting to convert/ converting by denigrating Hinduism". In several cases, Hindus are converted, or an attempt is made to convert Hindus by denigrating their faith, Hinduism. In such cases, the Hindus associate with the non-Hindu perpetrators often by choice and then the attempt to convert them by insulting their faith, showing the faith down, etc., begins. An example of this would be a non-Hindu gathering where the Hindus are attending the gathering of their own free will. However, once they attend the gathering, there is an explicit attempt to convert them by abusing their faith and hailing the faith of the perpetrator. The denigration of the Hindu faith is often based on misrepresentation of the Hindu faith, its doctrine and scriptures and insult to espoused traditions, if not blatant lies about Hindu beliefs and ways. Such conversions or attempts at conversions are driven by animosity towards the Hindu faith and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. Another subcategory selected is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected under this is- Victim says was brainwashed/groomed and Conversion of minor. 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. This case qualified as a religiously motivated hate crime because the conduct went far beyond ordinary misconduct by a teacher and directly targeted the religious identity of Hindu students placed under his care and authority. The most significant feature of this incident was the misuse of the teacher-student relationship. The accused had been entrusted with the academic instruction of Hindu students, including minors, who attended the coaching centre for educational purposes and naturally relied upon him as an authority figure. Instead of restricting himself to teaching, he repeatedly introduced religious discussions into the classroom and used that position of trust to influence the students’ beliefs. The use of an educator’s authority to shape or alter the religious outlook of students amounted to a deliberate abuse of fiduciary trust. The facts further showed that Hinduism was specifically denigrated in the process. The accused made derogatory remarks about Hindu gods and spoke disparagingly about the Hindu faith while simultaneously discussing Islam before the students. This was important because the repeated belittling of a victim’s professed religion often functions as a means of weakening their confidence in their own faith and making them more receptive to an alternative religious identity. The conduct was therefore not random classroom speech but a directed attempt to create disaffection towards Hinduism. Another important factor was the sustained psychological pressure applied to the students. The students stated that they were threatened with consequences if they raised complaints and were told that their future could be harmed. Such threats carried particular weight because they came from a teacher upon whom the students depended for their studies and academic progression. The intimidation, therefore, served to silence the victims and enabled the continuation of the religious influence without resistance. The conduct extended beyond the classroom as well. Female Hindu students stated that their contact details were obtained on the pretext of educational assistance and that they were then contacted through late-night calls and messages. This showed a continued pattern of personal harassment and manipulation outside the formal teaching environment. The use of private communication channels strengthened the inference that the victims were being individually influenced and mentally pressured. Particularly significant was the attempt to persuade Hindu students to consume beef. For Hindu students, this was not a neutral suggestion but one that directly conflicted with deeply held religious and cultural beliefs. The attempt to normalise conduct contrary to their faith indicated a deliberate effort to weaken their religious identity and detach them from their existing beliefs through gradual mental conditioning. The fact that minor students were among the victims made the matter graver. 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, especially when employed by trusted authority figures in positions of influence. This makes 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 religiously motivated hate crime. Taken together, the facts showed a sustained course of conduct in which Hindu students were mentally pressured, threatened, harassed through calls, and exposed to repeated denigration of their faith in an effort to influence them towards accepting Islam. Since the conduct directly targeted their religious identity and sought to undermine their freedom to continue practising their professed faith, this incident qualified as a religiously motivated hate crime and was added to the hate crime database of the tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incident dates based on when the victim’s ordeal began, rather than when the media reported it. In this case, the source material did not mention when the victims’ ordeal first began; therefore, the date on which the complaint was lodged, 6 April 2026, has been recorded as the indicative incident date for documentation purposes.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
