Minor Hindu girl subjected to prolonged abuse and forced religious conversion for nikah by Muslim man
Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, India 
7 January, 2023
Case Summary
In the DD Nagar area of Ratlam district, Madhya Pradesh, a minor Hindu girl was subjected to prolonged abuse and forced religious conversion for nikah by a Muslim man named Sameer alias Marble. According to reports, the accused, Sameer alias Marble, a resident of Ram Rahim Nagar and a friend of the victim's brother, frequently visited the victim's family's home. In January 2023, when the victim was a minor studying in Class 11, he used this familiarity to gain her trust and lured her to his residence, where he raped her. The assault resulted in pregnancy, following which he threatened her with a knife and warned that he would kill both her and her brother if she disclosed the incident to anyone. Fearing for her safety and that of her family, the victim remained silent while Sameer continued to maintain control over her through threats and intimidation. When she became pregnant, he forcibly administered medication to terminate the pregnancy. He subsequently pressured her to convert to Islam and subjected her to continued physical abuse. After she became pregnant a second time, he took her to an undisclosed location, threatened her, and compelled her to undergo nikah (Islamic marriage) with him despite her being a minor. Following the marriage, he took her to his home, restricted her contact with her family, and kept her under his control. The victim later gave birth to a son. Rather than ending the abuse, the birth of the child was followed by further violence and intimidation. Sameer assaulted her regularly, threatened to kill her, and repeatedly warned that she would face serious consequences if she resisted him. As the abuse intensified, the victim eventually informed her family about the rape, forced conversion, forced nikah, and ongoing harassment. However, the family initially refrained from approaching the authorities due to the persistent threats directed at them. On 8 June 2026, Sameer assaulted the victim again, causing injuries to her cheek and neck. She subsequently returned to her parental home. Later that evening, he arrived at the residence, created a disturbance, and pelted stones at the house. On 10 June 2026, he confronted the victim at Court Square and attempted to forcibly take away her nine-month-old child. Bystanders intervened and prevented the attempt. He later telephoned the victim's brother and threatened to stab him to death if his sister was not returned. Following these incidents, the victim and her family approached the police and lodged a complaint. Based on her statement, police registered a case against Sameer alias Marble, son of Shahzad Marble, under sections relating to rape, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, criminal intimidation, and the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act. Police stated that the accused had a criminal record and had absconded following the registration of the case. Efforts were underway to trace and arrest him.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Predatory Proselytisation. Within It, the sub-category selected is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, with the tertiary category being - 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 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 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 proselytization, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. The other sub-category selected 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 primary category selected is - Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Within it, the sub-category selected is - Forced conversion before marriage, with the tertiary category being - Forced to do nikah. In such cases, a non-Hindu man is in a relationship with a Hindu woman when the pressure to convert her religion begins to manifest. In such cases, typically, two patterns emerge. First, when the relationship is consensual, and the religious identity of the perpetrator is known to the Hindu woman in the relationship, however, at some point during the relationship, the non-Hindu man starts to force the victim to convert her religion and give up her Hindu religious identity. The second is when the woman gets into a marriage with the man pretending to share her faith. Later, when the truth is revealed, the man starts pressuring the woman to convert her religion and give up her religious identity. In both the situations, the methods used to force the victim to convert her religion often revolve around force-feeding beef, forcing her to wear hijab, forcing her to read the Kalma or even pressurizing the victim to do ‘Nikah’, which is marriage under Islamic law, with a prerequisite being conversion to Islam. Cases where a Hindu woman consensually converts to Islam in a relationship will be left out of the hate crime database, even though it could be argued in several cases that the conversion was a result of religious brainwashing. This case has been added to the tracker because a minor Hindu girl was subjected to prolonged abuse and forced religious conversion for nikah by a Muslim man named Sameer alias Marble. Firstly, it is important to note here that the victim was a minor, which means the element of consent and genuine change of conscience was missing ab initio. Minors, due to their young age and lack of maturity, are particularly vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. They may not have the ability to fully understand the implications of converting to another religion, and the Muslim perpetrator purposely targeted and exploited this vulnerability of the victim. Since this case exemplifies the use of coercion and manipulation to achieve religious conversion, it is a blatant act of religious hate, which is why it has been documented here in the hate tracker. Such acts are not merely criminal in nature; they are ideologically charged, revealing religious prejudice and a calculated intent to alter the religious identity of a minor without her volition. The use of grooming, where trust is built only to exploit, is an insidious method that exploits the child’s naivety and dependence. Secondly, the Muslim accused under threats and intimidation subjected her to continued physical abuse, sexual exploitation and forced religious conversion. These exploitations were not random acts of crime; rather, they functioned as religiously motivated tools aimed at humiliating, and dominating a Hindu girl because of her faith. The target was not the victim as an individual, but her Hindu identity. The specific focus on her Hindu identity in the commission of these acts highlights the religious hatred underlying the crime, making it a religiously motivated offence. Thirdly, in Islam, marriage to a non-Muslim partner is prohibited, which is why she was pressured for religious conversion. Often in such cases, sexual violence or threats serve a dual purpose: physical subjugation and religious humiliation. The intention was to break the victim down, emotionally, physically, and spiritually, so that she could be converted. This was not random violence; it was systematic, targeted, and rooted in religious animosity. Fourth, pressuring a Hindu individual to discard her religious faith and embrace another was a direct attack on her religious identity and dignity. It was not a matter of personal choice; it was coercion rooted in hostility towards the victim's Hindu identity. Such an attempt reflects religious animosity because the act was not simply about personal differences but about erasing the victim’s Hindu faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. 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. Such acts were not merely personal crimes; they were rooted in a desire to dominate and erase the religious identity of the victim. 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 the incident based on when the crime occurred. The media reports published this case on 14 June 2026. However, the media reports do not specify the exact date of the beginning of the victim’s ordeal. The victim came in contact with the accused in January 2023, and on 8 June 2026, the accused assaulted the victim. Considering these two pieces of information, we are using an indicative date of 8 January 2026 as the date of the incident. This date is used for documentation purposes only and represents the estimated beginning of her ordeal.
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 registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
