Adnan befriends Jharkhand’s minor Hindu tribal on social media, convinces her to elope, has ties with Delhi's red-light area

Case ID : a03777f | Location : Jharkhand, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 22 October, 2024

Case ID : a03777f

Jharkhand, India

22 October, 2024

Adnan befriends Jharkhand’s minor Hindu tribal on social media, convinces her to elope, has ties with Delhi's red-light area

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Brainwashed and/or groomed

Pattern of targeting Hindu minors

Case Summary

In Jharkhand’s tribal areas, growing concerns around grooming jihad intensified following the case of a 15-year-old Hindu tribal girl, targeted by Adnan Khan, a 19-year-old who befriended her through Instagram. According to the girl's family, Adnan gradually influenced her through frequent conversations and eventually convinced her to elope with him to Delhi. The family filed a missing person report on October 13, stating that he manipulated the girl into leaving her home under false pretences. Adnan reportedly contacted her family after her disappearance, claiming that he was deeply in love with their daughter and suggesting they speak to her friends, Taruna and Diksha, for more information about him. The girl's mother, a maid working for Ambika Rai, an NGO leader who aids trafficked or exploited girls, sought assistance from Rai. Rai shared that initially, a local Muslim police officer hesitated to file an official report. It was only after Rai’s intervention that the officer registered the complaint, though he delayed providing a copy of it to the family. Adnan had established close contact with multiple female relatives of the girl, presenting himself as a trustworthy figure. He persuaded the girl to join him in Delhi, leveraging their growing rapport. When he realised that police efforts were underway, Adnan called the girl’s family, warning them against legal action by boasting of influential connections. As part of a tracking operation, police traced Adnan's phone activity, locating him at the Anand Vihar railway station in New Delhi. When authorities, accompanied by female police officers, confronted Adnan at the station, he initially claimed ignorance of the girl's whereabouts. Under further pressure, he eventually disclosed that she was hiding in the train wearing a hijab to conceal her identity. The police retrieved the girl and brought her home, where she underwent counselling, while Adnan was taken into custody. During the investigation, Adnan’s interactions also hinted at ties with Delhi’s red-light district. Adnan reportedly also told the police that even if the minor Hindu tribal girl whom he had lured was rescued, there were many more other Hindu tribal girls whom he knew and they were willing to come with him. Ambika Rai believed this incident was indicative of a larger organised effort to traffic Hindu tribal girls or coerce them into religious conversion.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker as a religiously motivated hate crime under the category of "Hate crime against women in relationships and sexual crimes." Based on the details, the sub-category of "Brainwashed and/or groomed" has been selected, given the methodical manipulation used to influence the minor. Additionally, a tertiary category, "Pattern of targeting Hindu minors," has been included to highlight the recurring nature of such incidents. 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 hate crimes. In this case, the confession by the Muslim youth, Adnan Khan, that he knew of other Hindu tribal girls who were "willing to accompany him" points to a concerning, broader pattern of targeting Hindu girls, revealing a systemic effort driven by religious bias. This statement, combined with Adnan’s actions—gradually grooming the 15-year-old Hindu tribal girl, manipulating her with false promises, and ultimately luring her away from her family—reflects a calculated attempt to exploit her vulnerability. This behavior is consistent with a troubling trend where vulnerable Hindu girls, particularly from tribal or marginalized communities, are specifically targeted, potentially for purposes of coercive religious conversion or trafficking. The fact that the victim was a minor underscores her susceptibility to manipulation. Children and teenagers, whose cognitive and emotional development is still in progress, are particularly vulnerable to influence and less equipped to critically assess manipulation or understand its potential consequences. Subtle tactics like those used by Adnan, which may initially appear as friendship or affection, can be especially deceptive, making it challenging for guardians to identify and address cases of religious manipulation. This situation highlights not only an infringement on individual freedom but also a deliberate strategy aimed at targeting minors who are less able to resist or fully grasp the implications of such grooming. Moreover, the statement by the NGO leader Ambika Rai, who called this case part of a larger, organized effort to exploit Hindu tribal girls, reinforces the religious motivation behind the crime, rooted in animosity toward Hinduism. All of these points collectively mark this case as a significant instance of religiously motivated hate crime which is why it has been included in the tracker.