Hindu tribal woman raped and threatened to convert to Islam by Muslim brothers in Indore, Madhya Pradesh
Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India 
15 October, 2024
Case Summary
A 24-year-old tribal Hindu woman filed a complaint at Indore’s Heera Nagar police station on the night of 29th Oct 2025, accusing two Muslim brothers, Raja Hashmi and Sameer Hashmi, of rape and forcing her to convert to Islam. The victim stated that some years ago, she went with a woman named Simran, who lives in the Palda area, to a community meal (bhandara). At the event, Simran introduced her to a man named Raja Patel. Raja Patel told her that there was constant unrest in her family and that he would take her to his “guru,” who could help her overcome these problems. The Hindu woman, originally from Kannod in Dewas district, lives with her parents in Musakhedi (Azad Nagar) in Indore and works for a private company. She had met Simran, a transgender person, while seeking help for her family's difficulties. Simran promised to introduce her to a guru, also a transgender person, who lived near MR-10. On 16 October 2024, Simran took her to a dera (camp) said to belong to transgender person Sapna Haji. At the dera, Simran introduced her to Raja Hashmi and spoke to him about the woman’s personal problems. Raja took her phone number and called her again three days later. The victim said that when she met him the next time, he offered to take her to meet the guru, gave her a drink laced with an intoxicating substance, and then raped her. When she regained consciousness and resisted, Raja pulled out a pistol, threatened to shoot her, and told her that he was in control and that she would have to follow his instructions if she wanted peace in her life. According to the complaint, he continued to threaten her and called her to the dera several more times. On one of these occasions, Raja introduced her to his younger brother, Sameer Hashmi, who also raped her. Later, Raja told her that she would have to marry both brothers and pressured her to accept Islam. Police said that Raja Hashmi is already in jail in another case filed earlier by transgender individuals from Nandlalpura at the Pandrinath police station. Transgender person Sapna Haji was also an accused in that previous case and had been imprisoned.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. Within this, the first subcategory selected is- Conversion/attempts to convert by inducement. Predatory Proselytisation is not just limited to threat, harassment, force and violence, but it also has contours of stealth. In several cases, the Hindu victim is exploited to convert, with non-Hindus taking advantage of their poverty. In such cases, the Hindu victim who is suffering financially is offered monetary benefits, including lucrative offers for jobs, health treatment, education, etc, to induce the victim into changing his/her religion. In such cases, the religious identity of the victim and the aim to disenfranchise him from his faith form the heart of the crime. Also, taking advantage of and exploiting an individual’s economic vulnerabilities is widely acknowledged as exploitation, forms of which are often penalised by law. Such cases, therefore, are considered religiously motivated hate crimes since the victim’s religious identity forms the very heart of the crime itself. The second sub-category selected is: Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation, or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected in this case is: Rape and sexual assault/harassment 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 that 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. The other subcategory selected here 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. 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. This case has been added to the tracker because a Hindu woman was lured under the false pretext of facilitating a meeting with a spiritual guru, to solve her family problems by the Muslim accused, using a fake Hindu-sounding name. Firstly, the perpetrator deliberately concealed his religious identity to gain the trust of the victim. This itself is a clear manifestation of bias and malicious intent towards the victim's religion. By concealing his true identity, he exploited her trust and vulnerability, targeting her under false pretences. This indicates a premeditated intent to manipulate her based on her religious background. In cases like these, the tactic of adopting a false Hindu identity to manipulate and "ensnare" a Hindu individual is not just an act of personal betrayal but can also be interpreted as an expression of disdain or disregard for Hinduism and its customs that reflects a deeper animosity towards Hindus and their beliefs. Secondly, when the victim arrived at the Dera, she was drugged and raped by the accused and his brother, who began pressuring her to convert to Islam, along with marrying both of them. When the victim tried to resist, she was threatened with death at gunpoint. Under the fog of intimidation and fear, the sexual assault continued for more than a year. In such cases, blackmail and threats serve as a manipulative tactic designed to strip the victim of agency and force her into submission, including religious conversion. The purpose was to break the victim down emotionally, physically and spiritually as a means to coerce her into conversion. Thirdly, pressuring a Hindu individual to discard his religious faith and embrace another is a direct attack on his religious identity and dignity. It is not a matter of personal choice; it is coercion rooted in hostility towards the victim's Hindu identity. Such an attempt reflects religious animosity because the act is not simply about personal differences but about erasing the victim’s Hindu faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. Such actions stemmed from inherent hostility towards the victim's professed faith, since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent to the faith is subject to being dehumanised until they convert. Such acts were not merely personal crimes; they were rooted in a desire to dominate and erase the religious identity of the victim. Since such predatory actions stemmed from doctrinal animosity towards the Hindu faith and its adherents, this case was documented as a religiously motivated hate crime. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when an event occurred or when the victim's ordeal began. Hence, the date of the incident selected is 16th October 2024, when the victim was first assaulted by the accused.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 1
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 0
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
