Minor Hindu girl kidnapped by Muslim family, victim's father says perpetrator's aim was to convert her to Islam and sell her

Case ID : 5954920 | Location : Sitamarhi, Bihar, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 28 November, 2024

Case ID : 5954920

Sitamarhi, Bihar, India

28 November, 2024

Minor Hindu girl kidnapped by Muslim family, victim's father says perpetrator's aim was to convert her to Islam and sell her

Predatory Proselytisation

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Case Summary

A minor girl was kidnapped for the purpose of religious conversion. The victim's father said that his daughter was kidnapped with the intention of converting her religion and selling her. According to the FIR, the accused used to visit his house frequently. On the morning of the 26th, his daughter suddenly disappeared. When the father confronted the suspects, he was met with abuse and threats. The accused include Mohammad Nizam, his wife Asgari Khatoon, Mohammad Ashiq, Raji Ansari, his wife Ummeda Khatoon, among others. Based on the complaint, the police arrested six individuals: Tauhid Nadaf, Abdul Salik Nadaf alias Bablu, Rehan Reza, Ummeda Khatoon, Rani Khatoon, and Shahnaz Khatoon. The minor girl had not been located until this incident was added to the tracker.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Predatory proselytisation. Under this, the first sub-category selected is- Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion. Harassment covers a wide range of behaviours of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, including threats and coercion. Harassment and threats, in this case, find their root on discriminatory grounds which has the effect of nullifying a person’s rights or infringing upon his freedom to exercise his right specifically owing to the victim’s religious identity. Verbal and physical threats and psychological or physical harassment are often used against Hindu victims because they choose to practice their professed religion. Religious harassment also includes forced and involuntary conversions by harassment, threats or coercion. Coercion includes intimidatory tactics like force-feeding a Hindu victim beef to convert to another religion, forceful circumcision etc. In several cases documented, non-Hindu perpetrators or those who harbour specific animosity towards Hinduism, harass victims simply based on their religious identity. Such cases often also include harassment to ensure the Hindu victim abandons his/her professed religion and adopts the religion of the perpetrator. In this subcategory, we would only include cases where the victim was harassed, threatened or coerced to convert. Cases where attempts were made to convert but the victim resisted would be documented in another sub-category. 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. The second sub-category selected under the above-mentioned prime category is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination and within this, the tertiary category named- Conversion of minor, has been selected. 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 details of this case reveal that the Hindu victims were minors, indicating a lack of consent and a genuine change of conscience. It is a well-established fact that children are more susceptible to manipulation since they are still developing emotionally, cognitively, and socially. Their brains are not fully matured, making them more vulnerable to influence and less capable of critically evaluating information. Moreover, subtle manipulation tactics can be difficult to detect, especially when employed by trusted authority figures in positions of influence. This makes it challenging for parents, to identify and address instances of religious manipulation. Consequently, cases involving religious manipulation of minors not only represent an infringement on an individual's religious freedom but also demonstrate a calculated strategy of targeting those who are less able to resist or understand the long-term implications of conversion, making it a significant case of religious-motivated hate crime. For this reason, this case has been added to the tracker.