Over 175 Hindu women targeted for conversion; Muslim woman poses as Hindu lawyer, lures Hindu girls to convert and marry Muslim boys
Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh, India 
19 June, 2026
Case Summary
In Madhya Pradesh's Naramadapuram area, over 175 Hindu girls were lured into conversion and marriage with Muslim men. The person behind this nexus was a Muslim woman named Rubina. She, according to one of the victims, posed as a Hindu lawyer to gain the trust of Hindu women and girls, then brainwashed them to convert to Islam and marry Muslim youths. Rubina posed as a lawyer and joined the chamber of a senior lawyer in the District and Session Court, Narmadapuram. She worked as the senior lawyer’s assistant and used to come to the court complex dressed as a lawyer. Rubina not only faked a lawyer’s identity but also faked her religious identity. She pretended to be a Hindu, as she is known as ‘Upadhyay Madam’. Using her fake identity, she befriended Hindu girls and then gradually brainwashed them to convert and subsequently get them to marry Muslim men. One of the girls targeted by Rubina came forward and revealed the truth. After this, the news of the incident reached the local Hindu organisations, which raised an alarm. The Hindu organisations suspected the involvement of a larger network behind Rubina's activities and demanded swift and strict action by the police. Subsequently, a complaint was filed against Rubina, which included allegations of extortion, blackmail and religious conversion.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This incident has been added to the hate crime database under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. Under this, the subcategory selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected is- Pattern of targeting Hindus. 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 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. In this case, the Muslim woman adopted a typical tactic of conditional brainwashing to alienate the Hindu women from their faith and slowly bring them closer to the folds of Islam and ultimately get them to convert and marry Muslim men. The woman used deception as a tool. She hid her real identity and posed as a Hindu, that too a lawyer, to establish credibility and gain the familiarity and trust of her victims. Trapping someone into friendship with the malafide intention of conversion is not only ethically problematic but also a form of harassment rooted in hostility towards the victim's religious identity. The most relevant religious marker here is the deliberate use of deception. This is significant because it deprives the victims of the ability to make informed decisions about relationships that directly affect their faith, identity, and future. Rather than respecting the religious beliefs of the victims, the conduct aimed at weakening their attachment to Hinduism and replacing it with another religious identity. The reported scale of the operation is particularly significant. According to reports, more than 175 Hindu girls and women were targeted through this network. Such a large number strongly suggests that the victims were not chosen randomly or opportunistically. Their Hindu identity was a central factor that made them targets. When over 175 women from a specific religious community are reportedly singled out, befriended under a false identity, and subjected to efforts aimed at facilitating their religious conversion and marriage outside their faith, the conduct acquires a clear religious dimension. The systematic nature of the targeting indicates a pattern directed at a particular faith community rather than isolated personal interactions. When individuals are singled out because of their religious affiliation and subjected to manipulation, concealment, pressure, or inducement designed to secure their religious conversion, the act transcends a personal dispute and becomes an attack on their religious identity itself. In that sense, the targeting of over 175 Hindu women through deception, with the objective of facilitating their conversion and marriage outside their faith, reflects prejudice towards their religious identity and constitutes a hate crime. Disclaimer: Reports stated that over 175 Hindu girls and women were targeted through the network. Since the exact number of victims was not mentioned in reports at the time of documentation, the victim count has been conservatively estimated at 175, based on the minimum number reported.
Victim Details
Total Victim
175
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 175
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 175
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 175
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
female
Sources 
