Hindu girl converted to Islam by a married Muslim man, father files a complaint after she flees with him

Case Summary
Sultanpur police arrested a Muslim man for eloping with a 19-year-old girl after converting her to Islam. The man, who is already a father of two, was apprehended near Baghauna Canal Track Road and charged with religious conversion. The girl had disappeared on Diwali night, prompting her father to file a complaint against the accused. The police registered a case and sent the accused to judicial custody. Further legal action will depend on the girl's statement under Section 164.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker as a religiously motivated hate crime under the first prime category- Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Under this, the sub-category chosen is- Brainwashed and/or groomed. Further, based on case details, the tertiary category selected within the above-mentioned category is- Family claims grooming. 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 second category relevant here is- Predatory Proselytisation and within this, the sub-category and the tertiary category selected are- 'Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination' and 'Family claims grooming' respectively. Here, the family of the Hindu girl reported that the victim was mentally challenged. Individuals like these have no agency or ability to make an informed decision which is why they are vulnerable to such religious exploitations. The accused, in this case, exploited this vulnerability of the victim to groom and lure her into converting. The accused, a married man with two children, manipulated her by claiming that in Islam, a man could marry more than one woman, and if she converted, they could marry each other. This manipulation and coercion were central to the religiously motivated nature of the crime. Further, according to court documents accessed by Hinduphobia Tracker, the accused was denied bail as the court acknowledged that he had manipulated and groomed the victim into converting to Islam and fleeing with him. This recognition of his actions highlights the coercive and exploitative nature of the crime, underscoring its religiously motivated elements. This case exemplifies a religiously motivated hate crime as it involves the exploitation of the victim's vulnerabilities for the purpose of religious conversion. It is, in fact, a classic case of grooming and mental conditioning, where the vulnerability of the victim was exploited to extract the supposed ‘consent’ to convert her religion. The accused, a married man and father of two, manipulated and groomed a mentally challenged Hindu girl by taking advantage of her emotional and mental state. He used false promises of marriage and portrayed Islam as a way to legitimize multiple marriages, coercing her into conversion. Such actions highlight the predatory nature of the crime, as it targets an individual's religious identity and uses manipulation to force religious transformation, driven by animosity toward her faith. It is crucial to emphasise again that the victim, being mentally challenged, lacked the ability to make informed decisions and was therefore highly vulnerable to the accused's exploitation. His manipulation was driven by a clear intent to convert her, revealing animosity toward her faith. As the exploitation of her vulnerability for religious conversion is rooted in religious hatred, this case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime.
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
Arrested

Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male