Minor Hindu girl raped and driven to suicide by Muslim man in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh
Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India 
26 April, 2026
Case Summary
A 12-year-old Hindu girl from the Meerganj police station area, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, was found hanging from a dupatta in her home on 27 April 2026. What initially appeared to be a case of suicide took a significantly grimmer turn when the post-mortem report confirmed that the minor had been raped prior to her death. The victim's father filed a complaint on 29 April 2026 following the post-mortem findings. Police investigation, aided by statements from the girl's mother and younger sister, revealed that Zeeshan, a 26-year-old Block Development Committee [BDC] member and local resident, had been repeatedly sexually assaulting the minor. He had lured and harassed her near a pond outside the village after school hours, offering her small amounts of money to silence her. Despite some villagers being aware of his behaviour, no decisive intervention had taken place. Zeeshan confessed to the crime during police interrogation. The sustained sexual exploitation and harassment had pushed the victim into severe psychological depression, which investigators stated had ultimately led her to take the extreme step. Police arrested Zeeshan near a weekly market and produced him before the court, from where he was remanded to judicial custody.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
In this case, a Hindu minor girl was driven to suicide after being raped repeatedly by a Muslim youth. This could potentially be a crime motivated by religious profiling, as it has been observed that in many cases, Muslim perpetrators target Hindu women and minor girls due to inherent animosity towards Hindus. Hindu women and minor girls are very vulnerable to crimes like rape and sexual assault at the hands of Muslim men. However, it is also possible that the crime was one of opportunity, where the Hindu girl was simply accessible to the Muslim perpetrator. Meanwhile, it could also be argued that for the Muslim perpetrator, a Muslim girl would likely be more accessible than a Hindu girl. The fact that the perpetrator specifically targeted a Hindu girl could suggest religious profiling of the victim. Nevertheless, this remains highly speculative, as the case details provide no clear indication of religious motivations. Furthermore, neither the victim nor her family made any statements suggesting a religious motive behind the crime. For this reason, this case has been added to the 'Undecided' database. If further information emerges that hints towards a religious motivation behind this crime, then it would be reclassified and included under the Hate Crime database. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incident dates based on when the victim's ordeal began rather than when it was reported or published by the media. The exact date on which the exploitation began was not confirmed in the source material. The victim died by suicide on 27 April 2026; therefore, this date has been selected as the indicative incident date. This has been recorded solely for documentation purposes.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
1
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 
