Case Summary

In Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, a minor Hindu girl was deceived and brainwashed for religious conversion by a Muslim man named Farhan Hussain. According to reports, Farhan, a resident of Kashmiri Mohalla in Lucknow, came into contact with the minor victim in 2023, when she was just 15 years old. He exploited her innocence and lured her into a deceptive relationship under the guise of love. Gradually, he brainwashed her in an attempt to convert her to Islam, exerting deep psychological and emotional control over her, leading to drastic behavioural changes. She began speaking about the Quran and the benefits of Roza (fasting), insulted Hindu gods and the Hindu faith, and developed hostility towards her parents and siblings. Her family discovered several amulets and rings on her person, which were given by Farhan to maintain control over her. The victim’s brother and mother submitted a written complaint to the police stating that Farhan had manipulated the victim to steal jewellery and cash from the house on two separate occasions as part of a broader plan to make her elope with him. When the family confronted her, she defended Farhan and threatened to run away from home. The complaint also described how Farhan’s influence had left the girl completely detached from her family, her behaviour increasingly erratic, and her mental state deeply disturbed. The family expressed concern that she had been subjected to physical and mental abuse and feared she might harm herself or her relatives under Farhan’s direction. The family had made several earlier complaints to the police and on the emergency helpline 112, but Farhan continued to intimidate them, boasting that he was protected because his community was in the majority. His threats created fear and distress in the household, and the girl’s mother’s health deteriorated under the stress of the situation. The family also revealed that Farhan had been involved with multiple Hindu girls in the past, using emotional manipulation and blackmail to extort money from them. They stated that his actions formed part of a systematic pattern of exploitation, which falls under the category of 'Love Jihad'. Based on the family’s complaint, an FIR was lodged at Saadat Ganj police station against Farhan Hussain and his father, Israr Hussain, under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. As of the date of writing this report, the accused was arrested by the police, and an investigation into the case was ongoing.

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Why it is Hate Crime ?

The case has been added to the tracker under the prime category- Predatory proselytisation. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation, or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected is- Pattern of targeting Hindus, Conversion of minors and Family claims grooming. 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. The second sub-category selected here is - Attempting to convert/converting by denigrating Hinduism. In several cases, Hindus are converted or an attempt is made to convert Hindus by denigrating their faith, Hinduism. In such cases, the Hindus associate with the non-Hindu perpetrators often by choice and then, the attempt to convert them by insulting their faith, showing the faith down etc begins. An example of this would be a non-Hindu gathering where the Hindus are attending the gathering of their own free will. However, once they attend the gathering, there is an explicit attempt to convert them by abusing their faith and hailing the faith of the perpetrator. The denigration of the Hindu faith is often based on misrepresentation of the Hindu faith, its doctrine and scriptures and insult to espoused traditions if not blatant lies about Hindu beliefs and ways. Such conversions or attempts at conversions are driven by animosity towards the Hindu faith and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. The third sub-category selected here 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. This has been added to the tracker because a minor Hindu girl was deceived and brainwashed for religious conversion by the Muslim accused. The accused deceived her into a relationship and brainwashed her in an attempt to convert her to Islam, beginning in 2023 when she was just 15 years old. Firstly, in this case, the victim was a minor, which means the element of consent and genuine change of conscience was missing ab initio. Minors, due to their young age and lack of maturity, are particularly vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. They may not have the ability to fully understand the implications of converting to another religion or consenting to a relationship or elopement, and the Muslim perpetrator purposely targeted and exploited this vulnerability of the victim. Additionally, any supposed consent given in such cases is already considered invalid under the POCSO Act. Since this case exemplifies the use of coercion and manipulation to achieve religious conversion, it is a blatant act of religious hate. Such acts are not merely criminal in nature; they are ideologically charged, revealing religious prejudice and a calculated intent to alter the religious identity of a minor without her volition. Secondly, Farhan exercised direct psychological control over the victim, manipulating her to steal jewellery and cash from her home and coercing her into considering elopement. Under the influence of the accused, she began insulting Hindu deities and observing Roza. These actions were part of a broader plan to dominate and isolate her, creating conditions conducive to forced conversion. The systematic nature of these acts illustrates deliberate coercion and exploitation. Thirdly, the victim also insulted Hindu deities and the Hindu faith. Since the victim was a minor, she was obviously doing it under the instructions and influence of the accused. Therefore, it must be the accused who actually brainwashed her against Hinduism and Hindu deities. This goes beyond religious debate or proselytisation; it constitutes an act of incitement and insult directed at the core beliefs of the Hindu community. The accused attempted to demean and undermine her Hindu faith and intended to create an inferiority complex in her mind. This fosters an environment of hostility and disrespect towards the Hindu community and Hindu deities. Fourth, the victim's family also feared that the minor girl was subjected to physical and mental abuse. Often in such cases, victims are subjected to sexual, physical or mental abuse for physical subjugation and religious humiliation. The intention is to break the victim down, emotionally, physically, and spiritually, so that they can be converted. These are not random violence; it's systematic, targeted, and rooted in religious animosity. Fifth, when the victim's family opposed Farhan Hussain’s actions and approached the police, they were threatened and intimidated. The accused even boasted that nothing would happen to him since his community was in the majority. Such intimidation reflects a broader pattern in which perpetrators exploit social and communal dynamics to evade accountability, using threats and coercion to pressure victims and their families into compliance. These actions are driven by deep-seated religious animosity towards the Hindu community and Islamic supremacist ideology, which views non-Muslims as inherently inferior. This results in hostility towards non-Muslims, especially Hindus, when Hindus assert their rights, seek justice, or refuse to submit or comply with the demands of the Muslim community. Furthermore, it was also revealed that the accused targeted and exploited multiple Hindu girls in a similar way. Thus, it was not an isolated incident, but part of a broader campaign targeting Hindu girls. Such actions stem from inherent hostility towards the victim's professed faith since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent to the faith is subject to being dehumanised till they convert. Therefore, religious conversions, even of minors, are often seen as a badge of honour, totally disregarding the methods used to achieve it. Since such predatory actions stem from doctrinal animosity towards the Hindu faith and its adherents, this case is being documented as a religiously motivated hate crime. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case have specified the exact date when the victim's ordeal began, though it is mentioned that she was trapped by the accused in 2023. Thus, to document this case, we have used an indicative date—12 October 2023—as a placeholder to represent the beginning of her suffering. While media coverage of the incident emerged later, the Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began, not when it was reported.