Minor Hindu boy circumcised, pressured to offer Namaz, tortured at restaurant, forcefully converted to Islam
Bara Banki, Uttar Pradesh, India 
8 February, 2025
Case Summary
A case of forced religious conversion of a minor Hindu boy was reported in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh. The boy, originally from Azamgarh, was circumcised against his will, forced to work in a restaurant, and subjected to abuse. He was kept hostage and deprived of proper food. According to the teenager, after his mother's death, his father married a Muslim woman. He stated that his stepmother conspired to have his father killed for property and then threw him out of the house. Left without a home, he came into contact with a scrap dealer, Riyasat, and his son, Murshid, who kept him working without pay for several months. Later, Murshid took him to Barabanki under the pretence of finding him a job and placed him at Afifa Restaurant. At the restaurant, the owner inquired about his background. Upon learning that the boy had no family, he took him to a hospital and had him circumcised. When they returned, the owner informed him that he was now a Muslim and renamed him Noor Mohammad. He was then pressured to offer Namaz. Suspicious of the boy’s situation, Vinay Singh Rajput, a Vishwa Hindu Parishad worker, questioned him. The teenager initially identified himself as Noor Mohammad but later revealed his Hindu name and ordeal. Following this, an FIR was filed against Murshid, Riyasat, and the restaurant owner under charges of religious conversion, the SC-ST Act, and physical abuse. The police presented the boy before the Juvenile Justice Board in Azamgarh, where he detailed his experience. The board arranged counseling for him.
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, threat and coercion. 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 under which this case has been placed is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination and within this, the tertiary category selected is- Conversion of minor. 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. This case is a clear example of a religiously motivated hate crime as it involves forced conversion, coercion, and psychological manipulation targeting a vulnerable Hindu boy. The minor victim was subjected to circumcision against his will, renamed, and pressured to follow Islamic practices, demonstrating a deliberate effort to erase his Hindu identity. The victim, already in a precarious position due to his stepmother’s alleged conspiracy to kill his father and his subsequent abandonment, was deliberately exploited by the accused, who took advantage of his helplessness. Instead of providing him assistance, they subjected him to forced labour, denied him basic needs, and ultimately coerced him into adopting a new religious identity. This indicates a premeditated and systematic effort to convert him using both psychological and physical means. Since exploiting vulnerabilities for the explicit purpose of conversion is purely based on animosity towards the victim's faith, this case has been categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 1
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 0
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
