Case Summary

In the Chathat area under Phansidewa Police Station in Darjeeling district, West Bengal, a 13-year-old Hindu girl was repeatedly raped for several months by three Muslim men identified as Muhammad Aabtaar, Muhammad Alam and Muhammad Iltar, while videos of the sexual assaults were used to blackmail and silence her. The prolonged abuse resulted in the minor becoming approximately 12 weeks pregnant, and the family also disclosed that she had been threatened with death if she revealed the offences. The ordeal came to light on 1st October 2026, when the girl fell ill and was taken to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital. During the medical examination, doctors found that she was around 12 weeks pregnant. The minor then disclosed to her family that she had been sexually assaulted repeatedly over a period of several months. According to the police complaint filed by her father, Monidip Gupta, at Phansidewa Police Station on 2nd October 2026, the first sexual assault was recorded by Muhammad Yousuf, an acquaintance of the accused. The video was subsequently used to threaten and blackmail the 13-year-old, enabling further sexual assaults by the accused. The family also informed police that the minor was threatened with death if she disclosed what had been happening to her. The complaint named Muhammad Aabtaar, Muhammad Alam and Muhammad Iltar in connection with the repeated rape of the child. It also brought Muhammad Yousuf’s role in recording the initial assault under investigation. Family members of the accused were also accused of knowing about the offences and failing to inform the authorities. Police later arrested Aabtaar, Alam and Iltar. A later police-based report described one of the accused as a 45-year-old grocery-shop owner and identified the other two as his brothers. A local court produced the accused and remanded them to police custody while the investigation continued. After residents learned about the case, anger spread through the locality, and the accused’s shop was vandalised. Police personnel were deployed in the area to prevent further tension and maintain order. The investigation focused on the repeated sexual assault of the Hindu minor, the production and use of videos for blackmail, the death threats used to prevent disclosure, the circumstances surrounding her pregnancy, Muhammad Yousuf’s role in recording the assault, and whether members of the accused family had prior knowledge of the offences.

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Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been placed in the Undecided database because, although the victim was a 13-year-old Hindu girl and the principal accused were Muslim men, the material presently does not establish that she was selected, raped, blackmailed or threatened specifically because of her Hindu religious identity. The offences were extraordinarily grave, but the religious identity of the victim and perpetrators alone cannot establish a religiously motivated hate crime. Circumstances warrant retaining the case for further scrutiny. Local Hindu residents expressed concern about a broader atmosphere of hostility towards Hindus in the area and referred to anti-Hindu narratives being propagated locally. Residents also pointed to another recent case involving a Hindu girl and Muslim youths. These circumstances create a possible religious dimension, particularly given the vulnerability of a Hindu minor in the locality. Still, they do not by themselves prove that the perpetrators in this specific case acted out of animosity towards Hinduism or deliberately selected the child because she was Hindu. At present, there is no material showing conversion pressure, anti-Hindu slurs, religious threats, demands to abandon Hinduism, deliberate religious profiling, or any statement by the victim or her family connecting the sexual exploitation to her Hindu identity. The blackmail, sexual violence and death threats are clearly established as serious criminal conduct, but the available information does not yet demonstrate that religion formed the motive behind those acts. Therefore, the case remains categorised as Undecided. If further investigation, the victim’s statement, digital evidence, witness testimony or other material establishes that she was deliberately targeted because she was Hindu, or that the exploitation formed part of a religiously motivated pattern, the case can be reassessed for inclusion in the hate crime database. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on the date on which they occurred or when the victim’s ordeal began. In this case, the available reports stated that the 13-year-old victim had been subjected to repeated sexual assault and blackmail for several months, but the exact date on which the ordeal first began was not specified. Therefore, 1st October 2026, when the incident came to light, has been recorded as the indicative incident date for documentation purposes only.