Hindu minor held in captivity and raped by Muslim man while his wife stood guard; converted to Islam at Ajmer Dargah
Bhilwara, Rajasthan, India 
28 February, 2021
Case Summary
In Rajasthan’s Bhilwara district, a Hindu girl was subjected to sexual assault and coercion to convert to Islam. The victim's father has filed a case against six Muslim individuals. Pratap Nagar police station in-charge, Surjeet Tholia, stated that the accused repeatedly assaulted the girl, threatening to leak her obscene photos and videos online. They also threatened to kill her parents and brothers. According to the complaint, the victim’s family had been living in a rented house in the Pratap Nagar area for the past seven years. A Muslim man, along with his wife and brother-in-law, also resided in the same building. Using his wife as an intermediary, the accused befriended the Hindu girl. In March 2021, the couple forcibly took the girl to their room, where the man assaulted her while his wife stood guard. They recorded the act and threatened to kill her if she spoke out. The father further revealed that in April 2022, the accused again assaulted his daughter, making obscene photos and videos of her while his wife kept watch. Fearful of repercussions, the girl remained silent. The following month (May 2022), the accused repeated the crime. Later, the accused’s wife pressured the victim to befriend her brother. In October 2023, this brother-in-law also assaulted the girl, followed by another incident in December 2023. The couple further coerced the victim into a relationship with one of their acquaintances. In January 2024, this acquaintance also assaulted the girl. The victim was repeatedly taken to the accused’s room, where she was assaulted by multiple individuals. In November 2024, another gang rape took place. The father also stated that the accused forcibly took his daughter to Ajmer Dargah and pressured her to convert to Islam. On March 4, the accused once again attempted to take the victim to his room, but she managed to escape. Upon reaching home, she broke down and, after persistent questioning, revealed the years of abuse she had endured. Finally, on March 8 (Saturday), the victim's father lodged an FIR under various sections, including the POCSO Act, against the tenant, Abdul Qadir, his wife Sonia, his brother-in-law Adil, and three of their associates. Four accused were taken into custody. After the incident, BJP MP Damodar Agarwal met SP Dharmendra Singh Yadav and demanded the formation of SIT. SP formed SIT to investigate the gangrape case, and it started the investigation. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, Sant Samaj and Sanatan Samaj called for a bandh in Bhilwara city from 8 am to 5 pm on Monday (March 10) in protest against the rape incidents that have recently taken place in Pratap Nagar, Kotwali of Bhilwara as well as Bijay Nagar of Beawar. A huge protest gathering will be held at Shaheed Chowk in the city.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the category- Predatory Proselytisation and within this, the 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. 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 here is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination and within this, the two tertiary categories selected are- Rape and sexual assault/harassment and 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 has been categorised as a hate crime under Predatory Proselytisation, due to the systematic and coercive attempts to force the Hindu victim into converting to Islam. Here, the Hindu minor girl was confined and subjected to severe torture and intimidation. She was then taken to a dargah, where she was forcefully converted to Islam. The purpose of this torture was to coerce the victim into abandoning her faith and accepting Islam. The underlying motivation of predatory proselytisation, driven by animosity towards the victim's professed faith, was evident. The perpetrators used violence to pressure the girl into converting, with the central aim of separating her from her Hindu identity. Given that religion was the primary motivation, this case has been classified as a hate crime. Disclaimer: Here, it becomes important to note that none of the media reports on this case mention the exact date when the assault and conversion occurred in. Therefore, to document this case, we have chosen a date, which is not accurate but only indicative of the year.
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
Case sub-judice
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 5 to 10
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
