Hindu girl lured into relationship, brainwashed to convert to Islam and offer namaz by Muslim man; accused denigrates Hindu faith
Basna, Chhattisgarh, India 
14 October, 2025
Case Summary
In Basna, Chhattisgarh, an 18-year-old Hindu girl was lured into a romantic relationship by a Muslim man named Minaj Khan. The accused attempted to convert the victim to Islam by using brainwashing tactics. He also disparaged her parents and the Hindu faith. According to media reports, the accused, Minaj Khan, is a resident of Khatkhati village in the Basna police station area. He began communicating with the Hindu girl from Basna by sending her messages on Instagram. He then sought to isolate her from her social and religious environment by falsely pretending to be in love with her. The man obtained the girl’s mobile number and continued communication. The victim stated that during this time, he taught her the Kalma (Islamic declaration of faith) and Namaz (Islamic prayer) so that he could convert her to Islam after marriage. The Muslim man also brainwashed her by speaking against her family and the Hindu religion. The Muslim man then eloped with her on 15th October 2025, promising to marry her. Upon learning of this, the girl’s family immediately set out to search for them. The accused was apprehended near Pithora, a few kilometres from Basna, with the victim. The man then fled, abandoning the girl. Following this, the girl became aware of Minaj Khan’s intentions and filed a complaint with the Basna police, demanding strict action against him.
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. The subcategory selected is- Brainwashed and/or Groomed. The tertiary category selected is- Victim says she was brainwashed/groomed. 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. The other subcategory selected is- Forced conversion before marriage. The tertiary category selected is- Forced to follow non-Hindu religious practices. In such cases, a non-Hindu man is in a relationship with a Hindu woman when the pressure to convert her religion begins to manifest. In such cases, typically, two patterns emerge. First, when the relationship is consensual, and the religious identity of the perpetrator is known to the Hindu woman in the relationship, however, at some point during the relationship, the non-Hindu man starts to force the victim to convert her religion and give up her Hindu religious identity. The second is when the woman gets into a marriage with the man pretending to share her faith. Later, when the truth is revealed, the man starts pressuring the woman to convert her religion and give up her religious identity. In both the situations, the methods used to force the victim to convert her religion often revolve around force-feeding beef, forcing her to wear hijab, forcing her to read the Kalma or even pressurizing the victim to do ‘Nikah’, which is marriage under Islamic law, with a prerequisite being conversion to Islam. Cases where a Hindu woman consensually converts to Islam in a relationship will be left out of the hate crime database, even though it could be argued in several cases that the conversion was a result of religious brainwashing. Another primary category selected is- Predatory Proselytisation. The subcategory selected 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. In this case, a Hindu girl was deliberately targeted by a Muslim man named Minaj Khan, who sought to lure her into a relationship with the underlying aim of converting her to Islam. This targeting, solely based on her Hindu faith, is a clear demonstration of deep-seated religious hostility. The fact that the accused aimed to convert the Hindu victim because of her religious identity unequivocally classifies this as a religiously motivated crime. Such targeted acts reveal deliberate and intentional religious animosity rooted in hatred for the victim's faith and identity. The brainwashing aspect in this case is particularly egregious. Minaj Khan employed a calculated and coercive strategy to erode the victim’s attachment to her Hindu faith. Through emotional manipulation, deceit, and psychological pressure, he isolated her from her cultural and religious environment, systematically disparaged her existing beliefs, and attempted to replace her Hindu identity with an Islamic one. Brainwashing here isn’t mere persuasion but a relentless assault on the victim's personal freedom and autonomy, showcasing a profound bigotry against the victim’s faith. The accused also forced the Hindu victim to recite the Kalma (the Islamic declaration of faith) and to perform Namaz (Islamic prayers conducted five times daily). These practices were imposed not as voluntary expressions of belief but as tools designed to alienate her gradually from her Hindu roots and to strip away her original faith entirely. This methodical imposition of Islamic rituals under duress constitutes a severe infringement on the victim’s religious freedom and highlights the religiously motivated nature of this crime. Additionally, Minaj Khan actively denigrated the victim’s Hindu faith and disparaged her family, including her parents, with the clear intent of severing her ties to her roots. Hinduism was the faith she was raised with and held closely, forming the bedrock of her cultural identity. By attacking her religion and family, the perpetrator sought to make her feel inferior and isolated, coercing her into abandoning her faith and submitting to Islam. This tactic demonstrates an intent to assert Islamic supremacy and underscores the hateful religious motivation behind this crime. The accused’s act of taking the victim away and isolating her further exemplifies a deliberate and sinister attempt to control and brainwash her fully. This isolation facilitated his manipulative conversion efforts and reveals the targeted nature of the anti-Hindu hate crime. Given the deliberate and systematic nature of these acts—targeting, brainwashing, coercion, religious denigration, and isolation—this case meets all the parameters of a religiously motivated hate crime. Therefore, it has been added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records the date of an incident based on when the victim's ordeal began rather than when it is reported by the media. In this case, the media reported the case on 18th October 2025. However, the report does not specify the exact date when the victim’s ordeal began. It only states that on 15th October 2025, the accused lured the victim to run away with him under the pretext of marriage. Therefore, based on this information, 15th October 2025 is used as an indicative date of the incident. This date serves solely for documentation purposes and to provide an approximate estimate of when the victim’s ordeal began.
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 0
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
