Case Summary

In Deoria, Uttar Pradesh, a 19-year-old Hindu girl named Lakshmi Singh was lured away by a Muslim man named Gauhar Ansari. According to the victim’s father, she was manipulated, taken away, and forcibly converted to Islam before being married to the accused. The victim's father, Umesh Singh, a resident of Bardiha Lala village under Khakhundoo police station limits, lodged a complaint with the police stating that Gauhar had manipulated and lured away his daughter, Lakshmi Singh, on 31st July 2025. The police later recovered both the girl and the accused, Gauhar Ansari. During the police investigation, it was established that both Gauhar and Lakshmi were adults. On the orders of the court, the police granted the girl the freedom to go wherever she wished. Following this, after further details unfolded, the girl’s father filed another complaint with the police, stating that Gauhar Ansari had converted and married his daughter by misleading and tempting her. He further expressed concern that her life was in danger. The police registered a case of forcible conversion, marriage, and issuing threats, and later arrested Gauhar. Inspector-in-charge of Khakhundoo, Kalyan Singh Sagar, confirmed that on the basis of the father’s complaint, a case had been registered against six people, including Gauhar Ansari, for coercing the girl into conversion and marriage, and for issuing threats.

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Why it is Hate Crime ?

The primary category in this case is: Predatory Proselytisation. The subcategory under this is: Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary categories under this are: Family claims grooming, and Pattern of targeting Hindus. This case has been added to the Hinduphobia Tracker because it illustrates a deliberate pattern of grooming and religious brainwashing carried out under the guise of personal relations, exploiting both trust and vulnerability. At the centre of the case is a 19-year-old Hindu girl, Lakshmi Singh, who, according to her father, Umesh Singh, was deceived, lured away, and eventually converted to Islam by Gauhar Ansari. The Hinduphobia Tracker team personally met Umesh Singh, who reiterated that his daughter was brainwashed by Gauhar with the backing of his brother-in-law, Usman Ansari. Umesh Singh disclosed that Gauhar took his daughter to Delhi, where she was converted and renamed Salma. In his words, “My daughter was taken to Delhi by Gauhar. They made her Salma. She had dreams, but instead, she was brainwashed. I filed the case, and Gauhar was finally arrested. But I know he wasn’t working alone. Usman was behind everything.” Usman Ansari, who is closely related to Gauhar, was previously arrested for running a sex and conversion racket in malls in the city. This establishes a larger nexus, one where vulnerable Hindu girls are methodically targeted, lured, and forced into conversion under psychological pressure and deception. The manner in which this crime unfolded mirrors earlier cases such as the Chhangur Peer conversion racket in Bareilly. Umesh himself drew this comparison, stating, “The method is the same — lure, brainwash, convert, exploit.” Such parallels are significant because they highlight how predatory proselytisation networks operate with consistency, often relying on repeated strategies to entrap Hindu women and girls. The exploitation of loyalty and trust, the promise of a relationship, followed by brainwashing and forced religious conversion, forms the anatomy of this crime. Police records confirm that after Umesh Singh’s initial complaint, both Lakshmi and Gauhar were traced and recovered. Since she was legally an adult, the court allowed her the choice of deciding where to live, creating a temporary setback in pursuing charges. However, her father persisted, lodging another complaint that his daughter had been converted and married under deceit, inducement, and threat. He further warned that her life was in danger, underscoring the coercive environment she had been placed in. Inspector-in-charge of Khakhundoo, Kalyan Singh Sagar, later confirmed that based on the father’s complaint, a case was filed against six individuals, including Gauhar Ansari, on charges of coercion, forced conversion, marriage, and issuing threats. Police inquiries established that Gauhar had deliberately entrapped the girl, concealed his true intentions, and pressured her into embracing Islam against her free will. Even though Lakshmi appeared briefly before the Superintendent of Police to present her version, the inconsistencies in her statements and the allegations made against her own father indicated that she was still under the influence and manipulation, complicating the matter further. It is pertinent to mention here that the Lakshmi Singh case is being categorised under the Hate Crime Database and not left in the Undecided Database because the circumstances show it was not a matter of personal choice but part of an organised conversion racket. Normally, when an adult Hindu individual converts, such cases are placed in the Undecided Database of the Tracker since the victim has legal agency to make their own decisions, however questionable those decisions may appear to family or community. The principle is that adults, unlike minors, cannot automatically be assumed to be coerced. But in this instance, our ground reporting revealed that Lakshmi Singh’s conversion was not isolated. It was engineered by Gauhar Ansari as part of the wider network run by Usman Ansari in Deoria, which systematically targeted Hindu girls through deception, blackmail, and pressure to convert. Testimonies from her father and corroborating witnesses made clear that her conversion was the result of manipulation and brainwashing, rather than free consent. This links her case to the larger pattern of predatory proselytisation and exploitation of Hindus. Therefore, unlike standard adult-conversion cases, which are placed under Undecided, the Lakshmi Singh case is being entered into the Hate Crime Database because it meets the Tracker’s criteria of deliberate religious targeting, organised coercion, and the stripping away of Hindu identity through systemic exploitation. Ultimately, Gauhar was arrested and remains in jail. His arrest ties into a wider investigation linking him with Usman Ansari Ghani, who has been implicated in orchestrating a broader racket involving religious conversion and sexual exploitation in Deoria. This interconnected web of deceit, conversion, and exploitation demonstrates the systemic targeting of Hindus through predatory proselytisation. This case is classified under the category of Predatory Proselytisation, specifically the subcategory of Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. It reflects the nuanced nature of such crimes, where coercion and indoctrination are not always overt but instead operate through psychological manipulation, deceit, and exploitation of trust. By luring Lakshmi into a fraudulent relationship, converting her in secret, and stripping her of her Hindu identity, the perpetrators demonstrated the very essence of religiously motivated hate crime. The Hinduphobia Tracker includes this case because it not only represents the suffering of one Hindu family but also reveals a pattern that is part of a wider, deliberate design to disenfranchise Hindu women from their faith. The exploitation of Lakshmi Singh’s trust and the subsequent coercive measures adopted to sever her connection to her religion clearly align this case with the ongoing menace of predatory proselytisation.