Minor Hindu girl deceived and lured into relationship by Muslim man faking Hindu identity in Chapar, Assam

Case ID : 30a8f95 | Location : Chapar, Assam, India | Date of Incident : Wed, 10 June, 2026

Case ID : 30a8f95

Chapar, Assam, India

10 June, 2026

Minor Hindu girl deceived and lured into relationship by Muslim man faking Hindu identity in Chapar, Assam

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Man pretends to be Hindu

Name Changed

Case Summary

In the Mahishbathan village under the Shalkocha area of Chapar, Assam, a Hindu minor girl was deceived into a relationship by a Muslim youth named Mainul Sheikh, who pretended to be Hindu. The accused used a false Hindu identity to gain access to the Hindu household and establish a relationship with the minor Hindu girl. According to reports, the Muslim accused, Mainul Sheikh, introduced himself as a Hindu youth named Riju Sarkar and concealed his religious identity to take shelter at the house of a Hindu family. He lived with the family for several months and was treated as a member of the household. During this period, he developed a romantic relationship with a minor girl belonging to the family, all the while concealing his religious identity. The matter came to light after local residents became suspicious of the man's identity and informed the police. Following scrutiny, Mainul Sheikh disclosed his real identity, that he was a Muslim. Despite this revelation, local residents, along with members of the International Hindu Parishad and the National Bajrang Dal, expressed dissatisfaction with the police response and accused the authorities of failing to conduct a thorough investigation. Protesters gathered outside the Shalkocha police station, stating that officers had not adequately examined the circumstances surrounding the incident or searched the residence as part of the inquiry. Additional concerns were raised after it emerged that multiple CCTV cameras had been installed at the house where Mainul Sheikh had been staying, although the purpose behind their installation remained unclear. The minor girl's mother also stated that he had taken ₹2 lakh from the family on the pretext of purchasing a vehicle. She further stated that no action had been taken regarding this matter despite it being brought to the attention of the police. The incident sparked public protests and renewed demands from Hindu organisations for stricter legal measures against cases involving concealment of religious identity in relationships with Hindu girls.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case is added to the tracker under the primary category- Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. The subcategory selected is- Man pretends to be Hindu, with the tertiary category being - 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. This case has been added to the tracker because a Muslim man concealed his religious identity and posed as a Hindu in order to gain the trust of a Hindu family and establish a relationship with a minor Hindu girl. The perpetrator's deliberate decision to assume a false Hindu identity demonstrates a clear bias and malicious intent towards the victim's religious background. By concealing his true identity, he was able to gain access to a Hindu household, earn the confidence of the family members, and integrate himself into their domestic environment under false pretences. This deception was not limited to the minor victim alone; the entire Hindu family was misled into believing that he belonged to their religious community. The accused's conduct amounted to a calculated exploitation of the trust that the family placed in him based on the identity he falsely projected. The use of a false Hindu identity also enabled the accused to interact freely with the minor Hindu girl and develop a close relationship that may not have been possible had his true identity been known from the outset. By misrepresenting himself, he deprived both the victim and her family of the ability to make informed decisions regarding their association with him. Such concealment of identity constituted a direct violation of the trust placed in him and demonstrated a conscious effort to circumvent religious and familial boundaries through deception. Considering that the victim was a minor, the issue of informed consent becomes particularly significant. Minors, owing to their age and emotional vulnerability, are especially susceptible to manipulation and deception. They often lack the maturity and awareness required to identify fraudulent conduct or fully understand the implications of relationships formed under false pretences. In this case, the accused exploited the vulnerability of a minor Hindu girl by first concealing his religious identity and presenting himself as a Hindu before developing a relationship with her. The targeting of a minor through religious identity fraud demonstrates a calculated effort to exploit a vulnerable individual belonging to a different faith community. Furthermore, the accused's actions reflected not only deception towards the victim but also towards the wider Hindu family that welcomed him into their home and treated him as one of their own. By residing with the family while falsely claiming to be Hindu, he exploited the goodwill, trust, and sense of community extended to him by the household. Such conduct indicates a deliberate misuse of religious identity for the purpose of gaining access to and influencing members of a Hindu family. The deception of both the victim and her family underscores the extent to which the false identity was central to the accused's conduct. In cases such as this, the adoption of a false Hindu identity is not merely a personal act of dishonesty but a deliberate strategy that targets individuals on the basis of their religious identity. The accused's concealment of his religion enabled him to secure the confidence of a Hindu family and establish a relationship with a minor Hindu girl under circumstances that were fundamentally deceptive. The religious identity fraud employed in this case therefore serves as an important indicator of religiously motivated targeting and victimisation. Given that this case involved the deliberate concealment of religious identity to gain the trust of a Hindu family and develop a relationship with a minor Hindu girl, it meets the parameters for inclusion in the Hinduphobia Tracker database.