Minor Hindu girls religiously profiled, lured into relationships by Muslim youth posing as Hindu and wearing kalava

Case ID : 30aa06a | Location : Habra, West Bengal, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 22 August, 2026

Case ID : 30aa06a

Habra, West Bengal, India

22 August, 2026

Minor Hindu girls religiously profiled, lured into relationships by Muslim youth posing as Hindu and wearing kalava

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Man pretends to be Hindu

Wears symbols of Hinduism

Pattern of targeting Hindu women

Case Summary

In Habra, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, two minor Hindu girls were religiously profiled and befriended by a 17-year-old Muslim youth named Rahul Mondal. The accused had concealed his religious identity and pretended to be a Hindu youth. The perpetrator even wore a red sacred thread (kalava) on his wrist while posing as a Hindu. The two Hindu girls were students of Class 10. Local accounts stated that the perpetrator had entered into romantic relationships with both girls while concealing his Muslim identity. He was from the Chandipur area of Habra and was planning to lure one of the Hindu girls into a relationship and marry her while simultaneously remaining in contact with the other Hindu girl. The girls were also lured through false promises. After being caught, the perpetrator admitted that he communicated with two girls and specifically stated that both were Hindu. He said, “I talk to two girls. They are Hindu girls. Other than them, I don't talk to anyone else.” He further admitted that he had not disclosed to the girls that he was Muslim. The accused also stated that he possessed a personal photograph of one of the minor Hindu girls on his phone and had taken a screenshot of it. He said, “I used to talk to two girls. But I had personal photos of one of those girls with me. I had taken screenshots of them. I didn't tell her that I am Muslim.” He maintained that no other person was involved with him and that he communicated only with the two girls. The perpetrator’s father, Saibul Mondal, worked as a daily-wage labourer. The youth had been neglecting his studies while maintaining contact with the two minor Hindu girls under a concealed religious identity. After the incident came to light, local residents caught the accused and handed him over to Habra Police Station. Police then launched an investigation into the matter, including whether anyone else was involved in the deception.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The primary category selected for this case is: Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. The subcategory selected for this case is: Man pretends to be Hindu. The tertiary categories selected for this case are: Wears symbols of Hinduism, Pattern of targeting Hindu women. 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 mala fide 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 was a clear example of a religiously motivated hate crime, as two minor Hindu girls were lured into relationships by a Muslim youth posing as a Hindu. The deliberate religious deception and the specific targeting of Hindu girls through such deception demonstrated the religious motivation behind the act. It is also important to note that since the victims were minor Hindu girls, it heightened their vulnerability to manipulation and coercion. Minors, due to their young age and lack of maturity, are particularly vulnerable to religious exploitation. They do not have the ability to fully understand the implications of being deceived about a person's religious identity in the context of a relationship, and the Muslim perpetrator specifically targeted and exploited this vulnerability. Since this case exemplified the use of deception and manipulation to achieve religious targeting, it was a blatant act of a religiously motivated hate crime against the Hindu victims. The perpetrator's act of deception by posing as a Hindu itself demonstrated a clear religious dimension to the targeting. By hiding his true identity, the Muslim man manipulated the Hindu girls' trust and approached them under false pretences, indicating a deliberate effort to exploit their religious background. He specifically admitted that both girls were Hindu and that he had not disclosed his Muslim identity to them. The perpetrator was therefore aware of their religious identity while deliberately presenting himself as belonging to the Hindu faith. This demonstrated that his religious identity was not merely an incidental personal detail but a factor incorporated into the deception. The deliberate decision to conceal his religious identity and pursue Hindu girls strongly underscored the religious motive behind the targeting. In such instances, identity concealment is not just a deceptive tactic for personal reasons but a calculated strategy rooted in religious profiling and targeting. The accused was aware that the victim, being Hindu, would likely refuse his advances if she knew his real identity, and he circumvented this by lying, which directly points to a religiously driven intent. This deception reflects a larger pattern where Hindu women and minor Hindu girls are specifically singled out using false identities by Muslim men, often with coercion or conversion in mind. Such targeted victimisation based on religion not only demonstrates a fundamental disregard for Hinduism but also exposes a deeper animosity toward Hindus and their beliefs. The use of a red sacred thread, or kalava, further reinforced the false religious identity created by the perpetrator. The kalava is a sacred thread associated with Hindu religious traditions and is worn by Hindus during and after religious rituals and ceremonies. It carries religious and cultural significance and serves as a visible marker of Hindu religious identity. In this case, the perpetrator did not merely verbally present himself as Hindu; he also wore a recognisable Hindu religious symbol while concealing his Muslim identity. This strengthened the false impression that he belonged to the Hindu community and facilitated the victims' trust in him. The use of a sacred Hindu symbol as part of a deliberately constructed false identity was therefore significant to the nature of the targeting. By using the kalava as a means of reinforcing a false Hindu identity while pursuing relationships with Hindu girls, the perpetrator misused a sacred religious symbol to facilitate his deception. This represented a grave undermining of the sanctity of Hindu religious symbols and demonstrated a religiously motivated and predatory method of targeting. The fact that two Hindu girls were targeted further demonstrated that the incident was not an isolated instance involving a single victim. The perpetrator himself acknowledged that he communicated with two girls and specifically stated that both were Hindu. He maintained relationships with both girls while concealing his Muslim identity, demonstrating that the conduct extended to multiple Hindu victims. The targeting of two Hindu girls through the same method of religious identity concealment strengthened the conclusion that their Hindu identity was relevant to the perpetrator's approach. It therefore demonstrated a pattern within the perpetrator's conduct rather than a single, incidental act of deception. Since this case met the parameters of a religiously driven hate crime, it is added to the Hinduphobia Tracker's hate crime database. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident date based on when the victim’s ordeal is understood to have begun, rather than the date on which the incident was reported by the media. However, in the present case, the exact date on which the victims’ ordeal began was not specified. The only available date was 23 August 2026, when the media published the case. Hence, 23 August 2026 has been recorded as an indicative incident date for documentation purposes only.