Hindu minor girl befriended on social media by Muslim man posing as Hindu; subjected to threats and attempted sexual assault
Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India 
30 June, 2025
Case Summary
In Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, a minor Hindu girl was befriended on social media by a Muslim man named Sahil Sheikh, who posed as a Hindu. Subsequently, the girl was subjected to threats of self-harm and coercion. The accused, Sahil, also attempted to sexually exploit the minor Hindu girl. According to media reports, the minor girl was befriended on social media by the accused, who presented himself as a Hindu. When the girl discovered that he was, in fact, a Muslim, she ceased all contact with him. Agitated by this, the perpetrator threatened to end his life if she did not continue speaking to him. He forced her to meet him and then forcibly took her to a hotel, where he attempted to sexually exploit her. Following these events, Bajrang Dal members received information about the incident. Six to seven members arrived at the location and caused a commotion. They entered the room where Sahil was exploiting the girl. The Bajrang Dal members apprehended Sahil and thrashed him. The police were informed about the incident. Based on the girl's statement, the police registered a case against Sahil under various sections of the BNS. In addition, the police also assured that appropriate action would be taken against the hotel operator, Yusuf. The members of the Hindu organisation also said that the government rules were not being followed in the hotel. The Muslim man and the girl did stay in the hotel, but their names were not recorded in the register. Also, their Aadhaar card details were not taken. The Hindu activists demanded strict action even against the hotel operator, Yusuf. They said if the police failed to take action against Yusuf, then they would protest near the police station.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category-Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Man pretends to be Hindu. When a non-Hindu man pretends to be a Hindu to deceive a Hindu woman into a relationship, the act is seen as triggered by malafide intentions. In some cases, the woman eventually accepts the man’s original religious identity and converts after the man’s identity is revealed. These cases could be argued as cases of religious brainwashing and a result of the pressure a woman feels after getting into a relationship with a man. The woman, it can be argued, also changed her religious identity because of the stigma she believes she might face if she chooses to walk out of a deceptive relationship. However, for the purpose of documenting hate crimes, the cases in this subcategory are limited to those where there is explicit violence aimed at religious conversion against the wishes of the victim (force-feeding beef, blackmailing with intimate videos, rape on refusal to convert, etc), or if the woman herself complains of the man’s religious deception. In such cases, it is established that the deception of the non-Hindu man had a specific aim of religious conversion or targeting of the victim due to her Hindu religious identity, therefore, making it a religiously motivated hate crime. The other subcategory selected is- Brainwashed and/or groomed. Within this the tertiary category selected is- Rape and sexual assault/ harassment. 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. In this case, the religious motive behind the crime is evident from the Muslim perpetrator’s deliberate concealment of his Muslim identity to deceive a minor Hindu girl and befriend her. This act alone demonstrates clear bias and malicious intent towards the victim’s religion. By hiding his true identity, the perpetrator broke the victim’s trust and attempted to target her under false pretences, based on her religious background. Adopting a false Hindu identity to befriend a Hindu girl, in this case, is not only a personal betrayal but also a demonstration of religious hostility towards the victim due to her religious identity. After the girl discovered his true identity, he began threatening her, saying he would end his own life if she refused to speak to him. This clearly demonstrates that the Muslim perpetrator used threats of self-harm to coerce the girl into complying with his demands. His deliberate targeting and coercion of a Hindu girl highlight the religious animosity he harboured towards her because of her Hindu faith. Furthermore, he forcibly took her to a hotel, where he attempted to sexually exploit her. This sequence of actions shows that he first targeted the girl by religiously profiling her, and then subjected her to threats and coercion with the intent to sexually exploit her. It is evident that the victim was targeted because of her Hindu identity, and that the Muslim perpetrator’s actions were driven by religious hostility towards her and her community. It is crucial to remember that the victim in this case is a minor. This means that any notion of genuine consent or understanding was absent from the outset. Minors, due to their age and lack of maturity, are especially vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. They may not fully understand the implications of entering into a romantic or sexual relationship. The Muslim perpetrator deliberately exploited this vulnerability, making the crime even more egregious. This case clearly exemplifies the use of deception, coercion, and manipulation to exploit a Hindu minor, and hence, it is an example of a religiously motivated crime. Therefore, this case is being added to the hate crime database.
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
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
