Hindu woman lured and brainwashed; she and her brother stabbed with knife upon resistance by Muslim man in Rajsamand, Rajasthan
Rajsamand, Rajasthan, India 
17 April, 2026
Case Summary
In Rajsamand, Rajasthan, a Hindu girl was brainwashed and lured by a Muslim man named Arif, who later attacked her and her brother with a knife following resistance from her family. The case came to light after a violent incident was reported from the Salamapura area of Amet town, where both the girl and her brother sustained serious injuries and were admitted to a hospital for treatment. As per the complaint, the victim stated that the accused had brainwashed and taken her away from home five days before the incident. There, the accused threatened the victim about killing her family and brother. When the girl returned home, her brother opposed. During the confrontation, when the girl’s brother intervened and opposed the accused’s actions, Arif threatened and attacked both the girl and her brother with a knife. The assault left both victims critically injured. Upon receiving information about the incident, residents rushed to the spot and immediately shifted the injured to a nearby hospital. Their condition was reported as serious, and they remained under medical supervision. Following the incident, members of local and Hindu organisations gathered at the site and staged protests, demanding strict action against the accused. Acting promptly, the police arrested the accused and initiated an investigation into all aspects of the case.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category for this case is "Predatory Proselytisation". The sub-category for this case is "Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation and subtle indoctrination". The tertiary category here is "Victim says was brainwashed/groomed". 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 perpetrator's contrasting faith. 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. Another primary category selected for the case is- Attack not resulting in death. Within it, the selected sub-category is: Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save a victim. In several cases, Hindus are attacked for opposing religiously motivated crimes being committed against a fellow Hindu or simply for voicing an opinion opposing radical elements, who either have in the past or continue to persecute Hindus. In such cases, the initial attack against the victim, against which the Hindu was trying to defend the victim, would also need to be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime. Since the initial crime itself was religiously motivated and the subsequent crime of attempting to save the victim or speaking against the radical elements ends up inviting a violent attack, it would also be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. This case was treated as a religiously motivated hate crime because the interaction was not incidental. It showed a clear pattern of calculated influence over the Hindu victim. The conduct involved sustained manipulation and psychological conditioning, aimed at weakening her attachment to her own faith while fostering dependence on the perpetrator. This grooming was a deliberate attempt to reshape belief and identity through trust, coercive persuasion, and emotional leverage, which is central to predatory proselytisation. Furthermore, the victim’s own account confirmed that she had been influenced and mentally conditioned. This showed that the process was not a one-time act but a continued effort to alter her religious outlook through subtle and persistent methods. The reliance on emotional proximity and trust revealed exploitation of vulnerability, which reinforced the classification. When the girl resisted, and her family intervened, the situation did not de-escalate but turned coercive and violent. The control that had been built through manipulation was reinforced through fear, as the accused threatened to kill her brother if she did not comply. Even the girl herself was not spared once she resisted, and both siblings were attacked. This sequence showed that the earlier grooming was not benign or personal but part of a calculated effort to dominate her choices through psychological pressure backed by intimidation. The impact was immediate and deeply unsettling. What began as subtle manipulation culminated in open violence the moment control slipped, leaving both victims injured and exposing the extent of the coercion involved. For the local Hindu community, it drew a stark picture, where a Hindu girl was first influenced and then subjected to threats and violence when she resisted, and even those who stepped in to protect her were targeted. This clear chain of manipulation, intimidation, and retaliatory attack demonstrated that the act was not isolated but rooted in hostility towards identity, thereby bringing it within the ambit of a religiously motivated hate crime. Therefore, this case was added to the Hinduphobia 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 report does not mention when the victim's ordeal began; therefore, the date when the report was published has been recorded as the indicative incident date for documentation purposes.
Victim Details
Total Victim
2
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 2
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 2
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
