Minor Hindu girl raped, pressured to convert, offer namaz and wear hijab by Muslim man in Nashik; accused also threatened victim's family over conversion
Nashik, Maharashtra, India 
12 October, 2026
Case Summary
In Nashik, Maharashtra, a 13-year-old Hindu girl was lured into a relationship and pressured to convert to Islam by a Muslim man named Noman Ansari. The accused also forced the victim to wear a hijab and offer namaz. He threatened to marry the minor, take her to Delhi and convert her to Islam. He also threatened the victim’s family, warning that if they opposed his plans to convert the girl, he would force them to convert to Islam as well and circulate her obscene photographs and videos on the internet. According to media reports, Noman Ansari initially lured the Hindu girl into a relationship under the pretext of love and promised to marry her. He subsequently sexually assaulted her repeatedly on the pretext of marriage and recorded photographs and videos of the sexual abuse on his mobile phone. He also forced the minor to wear a hijab and offer namaz as part of his efforts to convert her to Islam. The accused then threatened the victim and her family with circulating the objectionable photographs and videos, including videos of her reciting namaz, on social media and the internet. He warned the family that if they opposed his plans to marry the girl, take her to Delhi and convert her to Islam, they too would be forced to convert. Following a complaint by the victim’s family, the Upnagar Police Station in Nashik registered a case under serious legal provisions. The police arrested Noman Ansari in Malegaon and seized the mobile phones belonging to both the accused and the victim. At the time of writing this report, further police investigation into the case was underway.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category selected in this case is: Predatory Proselytisation. The subcategory selected is: Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary categories selected are: Rape and sexual assault/harassment and Conversion of minor. 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. 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 primary category selected is: Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. The subcategory selected is: Brainwashed and/or groomed. The tertiary categories selected are: Rape and sexual assault/harassment and Conversion of minor. In our database, we have not added incidents where women have converted to another religion of their free will and no allegations of forced/involuntary conversion have been made. However, there are certain cases of conversion where the consent itself is a result of the brainwashing or grooming of a minor by the non-Hindu perpetrator trying to victimise a woman for her Hindu religious identity. The phenomenon of grooming points to non-Hindu perpetrators identifying their Hindu victims’ vulnerabilities and exploiting them over months and sometimes years, to extract the supposed ‘consent’ in order to convert their religion. In most cases of grooming, the victims are minors or the grooming started when the victim was a minor. In other cases of grooming, the non-Hindu perpetrator brainwashes and grooms a minor victim to extract their trust and then proceeds to rape them repeatedly with the intent of converting them to their faith. It is pertinent to understand here that when the victim is a minor, the ‘consent’ to convert or enter into a romantic relationship with an adult itself is redundant – addressed by POCSO. While every case of conversion of a minor and incidents of establishing a physical relationship with a minor by an adult is a crime, for the purpose of this database, a case would be considered a hate crime only if there is a distinct religious angle to the grooming. For example, in the UK, if a Hindu minor is targeted by Pakistani grooming gangs, it would be considered a hate crime because the victims are specifically targeted owing to their non-Muslim religious identity with the perpetrators being Muslim. In other cases, if a Hindu minor is brainwashed into entering a physical relationship with the non-Hindu adult perpetrator and the family alleges grooming/brainwashing of the minor to convert her religion, it would form a part of this database. If the victim is a Hindu adult, the case would form a part of this database only if the victim herself says that she was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. However, if the victim is deceased (murdered or otherwise), the case would form a part of this database if her family/friends provided testimony that the victim was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. Since these crimes have a distinct religious angle where the victim is being targeted owing to her Hindu religious identity, these cases are considered a hate crime. The other subcategory selected is: Forced conversion before marriage. The tertiary categories selected are: Forced to do nikah, Forced to wear Hijab, Forced to follow non-Hindu religious practices. 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. The other subcategory selected is: Blackmailed to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman is blackmailed to convert her religion, owing to her religious identity of being a Hindu. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu man known to the victim, however, there could be cases where the relationship is not consensual and the non-Hindu man starts blackmailing a Hindu woman to convert her religion. In these cases, it is often seen that the Hindu woman is blackmailed with intimate photos and/or videos, threats of harm to her or her family, threats of violence etc. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. The other subcategory selected is: Torture of family to force woman to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman is forced to convert her religion. Several methods are used for such forced conversion. The non-Hindu man is often documented to issue threats and even employ violence. One of the ways used by such perpetrators is threatening and/or torturing the family members of the Hindu woman to pressure her to convert. The perpetrators in such cases issue threats to harm or torture the family of the woman. In some cases, there is also violence directed towards the family to force the Hindu woman to convert. Such crimes aim to blackmail the victim into changing her religion by inducing fear of harm to her family. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. This case is a clear example of a religiously driven hate crime, as a Muslim perpetrator targeted a Hindu minor girl and subjected her to a series of acts aimed at converting her to Islam. He lured her into a relationship, sexually assaulted her, pressured her to convert to Islam and undergo nikah, and forced her to offer namaz and wear a hijab. He also blackmailed her with obscene photographs and videos and threatened to force her family to convert to Islam if they opposed his efforts to convert her. The combination of these acts establishes a clear pattern of religious coercion, in which the victim’s Hindu identity was a central aspect of the perpetrator’s efforts to impose another faith upon her. The overall circumstances therefore make this case a clear example of a religiously driven hate crime. The fact that the victim was a minor makes the religiously driven nature of the case even more evident. At such a young age, a child is particularly vulnerable to manipulation, coercion and exploitation by an adult. The circumstances also raise serious concerns about the absence of meaningful consent and any genuine, independently formed decision to change her religious beliefs. A minor does not fully understand the long-term implications of entering an exploitative relationship with an adult or converting to another faith. The perpetrator exploited this vulnerability by targeting a Hindu girl and subjecting her to pressure intended to bring about her conversion to Islam. Rather than respecting her developing autonomy and religious identity, he sought to use her age and vulnerability to influence her religious choices. This exploitation of a minor to enforce a change of faith further underscores the religiously driven nature of the crime. The fact that the victim was lured into a relationship with the ultimate objective of converting her to Islam makes the relationship predatory from its inception. A genuine relationship is founded on mutual trust, affection and respect for each individual’s autonomy, and requires particular scrutiny when one party is an adult and the other is a minor. In this case, the victim was a Hindu girl of just 13 years of age who was drawn into a relationship with an adult Muslim man who subsequently pressured her to change her religion. The circumstances indicate that the relationship was used as a means of gaining influence over the minor and advancing the objective of religious conversion. The exploitation of emotional attachment to facilitate a change of faith, particularly when the victim was a child, highlights the predatory nature of the relationship from its outset. The sexual exploitation of the victim, in the context of the perpetrator’s efforts to convert her to Islam, further underscores the religious dimension of the crime. The victim was repeatedly sexually assaulted on the pretext of marriage, while the perpetrator also recorded photographs and videos of the abuse. When sexual violence occurs alongside coercive attempts to change a victim’s religion, it demonstrates the use of sexual exploitation as a means of exerting control and making the victim more vulnerable to further coercion. In this case, the sexual abuse took place within a broader pattern of conduct that included pressure to convert to Islam, the imposition of Islamic religious practices and threats linked to the victim’s refusal or her family’s opposition. The targeting of a Hindu minor in these circumstances, with sexual exploitation occurring alongside efforts to override her religious autonomy, makes the religiously motivated dimension of the abuse particularly significant. The sexual violence was therefore not an isolated act but part of a wider pattern of exploitation and religious coercion. The perpetrator’s efforts to force the victim to convert to Islam demonstrate hostility towards her Hindu religious identity. By pressuring a Hindu minor to abandon her faith and embrace Islam, he treated her religious identity as something that had to be stripped away and replaced with another faith. Religious conversion must stem from an individual’s own conviction and free choice, not from manipulation, sexual exploitation, intimidation or threats. In this case, the perpetrator’s attempts to impose Islam upon the victim, alongside the forced observance of Islamic practices, indicate a deliberate disregard for her Hindu identity and an effort to compel her to conform to a different religion. This coercive attempt to replace her existing faith with Islam makes the religiously hostile nature of the crime evident. The fact that the victim was also pressured to undergo nikah further illustrates how marriage was linked to the attempted religious conversion. Under traditional Islamic jurisprudence, a Muslim man’s marriage to a non-Muslim woman is subject to restrictions, and a woman who does not fall within the recognised categories of permissible non-Muslim spouses would be required to embrace Islam for the marriage to be recognised as valid under that framework. The circumstances in this case, in which the perpetrator threatened to marry the Hindu minor, take her to Delhi and convert her to Islam, indicate that marriage and conversion were intertwined in his plans. The pressure to convert in connection with nikah showcases that marriage was being used as a means of securing religious conversion and exerting control over the victim’s personal and religious autonomy. Rather than respecting the victim’s right to determine her own faith and future, the perpetrator sought to make conversion part of the proposed marriage. This connection between the attempted conversion and nikah further reinforces the religiously coercive nature of the case. The fact that the victim was forced to offer namaz also demonstrates the coercive imposition of Islamic religious practices upon a Hindu minor. Namaz, or salah, is a prescribed form of Islamic prayer and an important component of Muslim religious observance. Forcing a Hindu girl to perform this practice against her will, in the context of efforts to convert her to Islam, indicates an attempt to compel her participation in a religious tradition she had not freely chosen to adopt. Such coercion goes beyond introducing a person to another faith; it involves overriding the individual’s religious autonomy and compelling outward participation in its practices. In the circumstances of this case, forcing the victim to offer namaz formed part of a broader pattern of conduct intended to pressure her towards conversion and weaken her connection to her existing religious identity. This forced imposition of Islamic religious observance further highlights the religiously coercive nature of the perpetrator’s actions. Similarly, forcing the victim to wear a hijab reinforces the pattern of religious imposition. The hijab is a form of head covering worn by Muslim women as an expression of religious observance. Compelling a Hindu minor to wear it against her will, particularly alongside pressure to convert to Islam and perform Islamic prayers, indicates an attempt to impose visible markers of another religious identity upon her. Religious attire should be a matter of personal choice and conviction rather than an instrument of coercion. In this case, the forced wearing of a hijab formed part of a wider pattern in which the perpetrator sought to influence the victim’s religious practices and identity. Together with the forced performance of namaz and the pressure to convert, the imposition of Islamic attire demonstrates an attempt to erode the victim’s religious autonomy and compel her to conform to a faith she had not freely chosen. This further strengthens the religiously driven dimension of the crime. The blackmail involving obscene photographs and videos of the victim further demonstrates the coercive methods employed in the course of the attempted conversion. The perpetrator recorded photographs and videos of the sexual abuse and threatened to circulate the material on social media and the internet. He also threatened to make videos of the victim reciting namaz publicly. The use of such material to intimidate a minor and exert pressure upon her and her family created an additional means of control over the victim. In the context of the perpetrator’s efforts to convert her to Islam, the threats showcased that sexual humiliation and the fear of public exposure were being used to make resistance to his demands more difficult. The willingness to use intimate material and the victim’s participation in Islamic religious practices as instruments of intimidation illustrates the extent of the coercion employed. These threats formed part of the wider pattern of exploitation through which the perpetrator sought to impose his demands upon the Hindu minor, further reinforcing the religiously driven nature of the case. The perpetrator’s threat to force the victim’s family to convert to Islam if they opposed his efforts to convert the girl further demonstrates the extent of the religious coercion involved. The threat extended the pressure beyond the immediate victim and placed her family’s religious autonomy under threat as well. By making the family’s refusal to accept his plans a pretext for threatening their own conversion, the perpetrator sought to intimidate those who could protect the minor and resist his demands. Such threats also place an additional emotional burden on a child, who may feel responsible for the danger or distress faced by her family and consequently become more vulnerable to religious coercion. In this case, the threat of forced conversion was coupled with the threat to circulate the victim’s obscene photographs and videos, creating further pressure on the family to submit. The attempt to use the family’s safety and religious freedom as leverage to secure the conversion of a Hindu minor underscores the religiously driven character of the conduct. Overall, since this case meets the parameters of a religiously driven offence, it is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when an event occurred or when the victim's ordeal began. It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case has specified the exact date when the incident occurred. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media, 13 October 2026.
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
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
