Minor Hindu girl lured into relationship, raped and coerced to convert to Islam by a Muslim man posing as Hindu in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh
Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India 
11 March, 2026
Case Summary
In Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, a 16‑year‑old Hindu schoolgirl was lured and raped by a Muslim man named Sahil, who posed as Hindu “Rocky” on Instagram. The accused was a friend of the victim’s brother and used this familiarity to gain access to the minor girl. Through Instagram conversations and regular contact, he gradually developed a friendship with her while continuing to pose under the false Hindu identity. According to the complaint lodged by the victim’s family, the girl was a tenth‑grade student. Two months earlier, she had come into contact with a young man named Rocky through Instagram. They became friends after that. The accused later took the minor girl to a hotel where he raped her. The incident came to light after the girl’s family noticed changes in her behaviour and questioned her, following which she disclosed the entire sequence of events. The family stated that the accused had deliberately hidden his real identity in order to emotionally manipulate and sexually exploit the minor victim. They stated he had also taken obscene photos and videos during the incident and was pressuring her to convert to Islam and marry him. After the matter surfaced, the victim’s family approached the police and filed a complaint against the accused. Based on the complaint, police registered a case against Sahil under relevant sections relating to rape, concealment of identity, and offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. SP City Vinayak Gopal Bhonsle said that a case of rape of a teenage girl living in the Kankarkheda police station area had come to light. Based on a complaint from the family, a case had been registered against the accused youth. He would be arrested soon.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category for this case is "Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes". Within this, the first selected subcategory is- Man Pretends to be Hindu, and the tertiary category selected is- Name Changed. 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 next subcategory selected is- Blackmailed to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman is blackmailed to convert her religion, owing to her religious identity of being a Hindu. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu man known to the victim, however, there could be cases where the relationship is not consensual and the non-Hindu man starts blackmailing a Hindu woman to convert her religion. In these cases, it is often seen that the Hindu woman is blackmailed with intimate photos and/or videos, threats of harm to her or her family, threats of violence etc. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. The other relevant subcategory is- Brainwashed and/or groomed, and within this, the selected tertiary categories are- Conversion of minor, Rape and sexual assault/harassment. In our database, we have not added incidents where women have converted to another religion of their free will and no allegations of forced/involuntary conversion have been made. However, there are certain cases of conversion where the consent itself is a result of the brainwashing or grooming of a minor by the non-Hindu perpetrator trying to victimise a woman for her Hindu religious identity. The phenomenon of grooming points to non-Hindu perpetrators identifying their Hindu victims’ vulnerabilities and exploiting them over months and sometimes years, to extract the supposed ‘consent’ in order to convert their religion. In most cases of grooming, the victims are minors or the grooming started when the victim was a minor. In other cases of grooming, the non-Hindu perpetrator brainwashes and grooms a minor victim to extract their trust and then proceeds to rape them repeatedly with the intent of converting them to their faith. It is pertinent to understand here that when the victim is a minor, the ‘consent’ to convert or enter into a romantic relationship with an adult itself is redundant – addressed by POCSO. While every case of conversion of a minor and incidents of establishing a physical relationship with a minor by an adult is a crime, for the purpose of this database, a case would be considered a hate crime only if there is a distinct religious angle to the grooming. For example, in the UK, if a Hindu minor is targeted by Pakistani grooming gangs, it would be considered a hate crime because the victims are specifically targeted owing to their non-Muslim religious identity with the perpetrators being Muslim. In other cases, if a Hindu minor is brainwashed into entering a physical relationship with the non-Hindu adult perpetrator and the family alleges grooming/brainwashing of the minor to convert her religion, it would form a part of this database. If the victim is a Hindu adult, the case would form a part of this database only if the victim herself says that she was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. However, if the victim is deceased (murdered or otherwise), the case would form a part of this database if her family/friends provided testimony that the victim was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. Since these crimes have a distinct religious angle where the victim is being targeted owing to her Hindu religious identity, these cases are considered a hate crime. The second primary category selected is "Predatory Proselytisation". The sub-category within this 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. The other sub-category here is "Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination". The tertiary categories for this case are "Conversion of minor" and "Rape and sexual assault/harassment". 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. The religious motive of the crime is evident from the fact that the Muslim perpetrator hid his true identity to trap the Hindu victim. This itself is a clear manifestation of bias and malicious intent towards the victim's religion. By concealing his true identity, he exploited her trust, targeting her under false pretences. This indicates a premeditated intent to manipulate her based on her religious background. In cases like these, the tactic of adopting a false Hindu identity to manipulate and "ensnare" a Hindu individual is not just an act of personal betrayal but can also be interpreted as an expression of disdain or disregard for Hinduism and its customs that reflects a deeper animosity towards Hindus and their beliefs. The use of Instagram as the medium of approach further demonstrated the grooming's methodical nature. Social media provided a private channel through which Sahil cultivated familiarity and influence without immediate detection. The gradual development of friendship through repeated online contact was not casual interaction. It was a structured process aimed at lowering the victim’s guard and creating dependency. The false identity served as an instrument of control, keeping the victim in a state of vulnerability. Further, the sexual assault in the hotel was enabled entirely by this framework of deception and grooming. He not only violated her by raping her but also recorded obscene videos to blackmail her into converting to Islam. This act went beyond mere criminal behaviour; it was a calculated and malicious attack on her religious identity. The use of blackmail to force conversion is a clear demonstration of religious hate, as it targets the victim's religious beliefs and seeks to erase her identity. This case is a glaring example of how deep-seated intolerance can manifest in violent and coercive actions, with the ultimate goal of religious subjugation and domination. The deliberate nature of the deception and the subsequent attempt to force conversion highlight the extent of disdain the accused harboured for the victim's faith, making this a clear case of religiously motivated hate. Importantly, the conversion pressure that followed established the religious objective underlying the entire course of conduct. The deception, grooming, and sexual exploitation were not ends in themselves. They were instruments deployed to create a condition in which the victim would have no choice but to comply with conversion and marriage. The demand for conversion was not introduced as an afterthought. It was the terminal objective toward which the entire operation had been directed from the beginning. It is further important to note that the victim was a minor, which meant the element of consent and genuine change of conscience was absent ab initio. Minors, due to their age and lack of maturity, were particularly vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. They could not fully understand the implications of converting to another religion, and the perpetrator purposely targeted and exploited this vulnerability. Since this case exemplified the use of deception, coercion, and manipulation to achieve religious conversion, it was a blatant act of religious hate, which is why it was documented in the hate tracker. Given that this case met the parameters of a religiously motivated hate crime, Sahil’s conduct reflected more than sexual predation. By adopting a false Hindu identity to gain access to a Hindu minor, cultivating psychological dependency through social media grooming, committing sexual assault under deception, creating obscene material to reinforce control, and issuing conversion and marriage pressure as the terminal objective, his actions demonstrated a deliberate campaign to destroy a Hindu minor’s religious identity and autonomy simultaneously. Moreover, the victim was targeted specifically because she was Hindu, and every instrument of the operation was chosen because it would be most effective in compelling a Hindu minor to abandon her faith under conditions of psychological and physical subjugation. This reflected an underlying hostility toward Hindu religious identity that could not be characterised as anything other than religiously motivated. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker recorded incident dates based on when the crime occurred, not when it was reported or published. This case involved a sustained course of conduct beginning approximately two months before the complaint. Since this is the earliest known time frame, a date two months prior to the report's publication date has been used as the incident date for documentation purposes only.
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
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
