Hindu minor girls brainwashed, forcibly converted to Islam and repeatedly raped by Muslim perpetrators in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India 
6 November, 2025
Case Summary
In Madhya Pradesh, Hindu minor girls were brainwashed, coerced into religious conversion, forced to perform 'nikah' and repeatedly raped by Muslim perpetrators in the Ashoknagar district of Bhopal. According to the complaint filed by the victim’s mother at Piprai police station, her 17-year-old daughter had gone to stay with her maternal uncle in Bhopal some time earlier. On 14 April 2026, the girl suddenly returned to her home in Piprai along with two other minor girls, all wearing burqas. This unusual sight raised suspicion within the family. Upon questioning, the minor disclosed details of sustained sexual abuse, forced religious conversion, and nikah, which shocked the family. The victim stated that she used to frequently travel between Piprai and Mandideep, where her maternal uncle resided, and it was during this period that she came into contact with the accused Altamash Khan, a resident of Habibganj, Bhopal, near Chetak Bridge, at Piprai railway station. He established contact with her, gradually gained her trust, and kept her under his influence. On 5 November, 2025, he lured her to Bhopal. There, he brainwashed her, converted her religion, and performed nikah with her. On the evening of 7 November, 2025, at a broken house located near Prabhat Chauraha in Bhopal, he threatened and raped her. Thereafter, he took her to multiple locations and sexually assaulted her repeatedly, approximately 10 to 15 times. Similarly, the other two minor girls were targeted and exploited by his associates. Following this, the mother approached the police and lodged a formal complaint. Upon receiving the complaint, police registered a case against Altamash Khan, Aahat Sheikh, and Arhan Ali under charges of rape, provisions of the POCSO Act, the SC/ST Act, and sections related to forced religious conversion. Statements of the victims were recorded, and medical examinations were conducted. During the course of the investigation, it emerged that two other accused, identified as Aahat Sheikh, a resident of Jinsi, Bhopal, and Arhan Ali, a resident of Galla Mandi, Bhopal, were also involved. Aahat Sheikh targeted a 14-year-old Hindu minor girl from Subhash Nagar, Bhopal, while Arhan Ali targeted a 15-year-old Hindu minor girl from Durganagar, Habibganj. Both accused similarly brainwashed the girls, coerced them into religious conversion, performed nikah, and raped them. All three accused were known to each other and acted in coordination. Ashok Nagar SDOP Vivek Sharma stated that a special team has been formed to arrest the accused, and raids are being conducted at possible hideouts. Preliminary investigations revealed that one of the accused was already in jail in another case, while the search for the others is ongoing. Statements of the victim girls were recorded, and further investigation of the accused was underway.
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 subcategory selected is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected under this is- Victim says was brainwashed/groomed, Conversion of minor, Rape and Sexual assault/harassment and 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. This case qualified as a religiously motivated crime because the conduct went far beyond isolated acts of sexual assault and instead revealed a sustained and targeted pattern of manipulation, coercion, and religious imposition upon vulnerable Hindu minor girls. The sequence began with deliberate contact and trust-building, where the accused gradually drew the minor girls into a controlled relationship. It did not occur suddenly; rather, it unfolded over time, showing a clear method of influencing the victim mentally before subjecting her to abuse. The repeated acts of sexual assault, coupled with conversion and nikah, demonstrated that the crime was not only physical but also aimed at altering the identity of the victim. The most significant feature of this incident was the methodical grooming of the victims. The accused first established contact and built familiarity with the minor girls, gradually gaining their trust. This trust was then misused to influence them mentally and emotionally. Rather than any immediate use of force, the process unfolded over time, indicating a calculated effort to lower resistance and create dependence. Such conduct showed that the victims were not randomly targeted but were deliberately drawn into a controlled environment where their vulnerability could be exploited. The facts further demonstrated that the abuse was not limited to physical violence but extended into the sphere of religious identity. The victims were not only sexually assaulted but were also subjected to religious conversion and nikah. This combination was significant because it showed an attempt to alter the identity of the victims alongside exploiting them physically. The repeated nature of the acts, along with the involvement of multiple accused similarly targeting more than one girl, established a pattern rather than a one-off incident. Another crucial element was the use of intimidation and coercion. The minor girls were taken away from their familiar surroundings, isolated, and threatened before being assaulted multiple times. Such circumstances ensured that resistance was minimal and fear remained constant. The coercive environment, coupled with repeated abuse, created a situation where compliance was extracted through pressure rather than choice. This demonstrated that the victims were systematically deprived of their ability to act freely. The question of consent did not arise in any valid sense. All the victims were minors. At that stage of life, an individual lacks the maturity to understand the consequences of religious conversion, marriage, or sexual relations. Any form of apparent agreement was therefore legally invalid and morally meaningless. When a minor girl was first influenced, then isolated, and thereafter subjected to threats and repeated assault, the idea of voluntary participation ceased to exist. What appeared to be acceptance was, in reality, the result of sustained manipulation and fear. It was also important that the pattern extended to multiple victims through coordinated actions of the accused and their associates. Each victim was approached, influenced, and then subjected to the same sequence of events. This repetition showed a deliberate design where Hindu minor girls were specifically identified and targeted. The use of similar methods across victims strengthened the inference of a structured approach rather than isolated misconduct. The impact of such acts was severe and far-reaching. The victims were not only subjected to physical violence but were also pressured into abandoning their identity under circumstances of fear and control. Their return in burqas reflected the extent of the influence and transformation imposed on them in a short period. For the families, the revelations caused shock and distress, while for the wider community, they raised serious concerns about the vulnerability of minor girls to such targeted exploitation. Taken together, the combination of psychological influence, threats, and physical violence demonstrated a clear intent to dominate and exploit the victims while simultaneously altering their identity, thereby making this a grave instance of targeted and structured wrongdoing. 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. 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 the date of an incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began, rather than when it was reported in the media. In the present case, the victim was abducted on 7 November 2025, which marked the beginning of the offence. Accordingly, this date has been taken as the incident date for documentation purposes, rather than the later date when the case surfaced in media reports.
Victim Details
Total Victim
3
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 3
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 3
Age Group
- Minor 2
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 1
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
