Minor Hindu sisters lured, abducted and made to wear burqa by Muslim youths in Uttarakhand

Case ID : cb281d2 | Location : Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 2 December, 2025

Case ID : cb281d2

Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand, India

2 December, 2025

Minor Hindu sisters lured, abducted and made to wear burqa by Muslim youths in Uttarakhand

Undecided cases

Case Summary

In the Nanakmatta–Nanak Sagar Dam area of Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand, two minor Hindu sisters were lured, abducted and forced to wear a burqa by two Muslim youths. According to reports, the minor victims, who were sisters, left their home in their school uniforms that morning. However, the minor victims were later seen near the Nanak Sagar area, roaming around with the two Muslim men, one identified as Arbaaz, who had brought them to the area with clear malicious intent. The Muslim youths forced the minor girls to wear a burqa so as to conceal their identities. Their suspicious behaviour drew the attention of local residents, who stopped and began to question them. During the questioning, one of the men fled while the other, Arbaaz, a resident of Sitarganj, was caught and apprehended by the public. The locals immediately informed the police, who took Arbaaz and the two minor sisters to the Nanakmatta police station. The girls’ father reached the police station and filed a complaint stating that the two youths had lured and abducted his daughters. Police registered a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and other relevant sections against Arbaaz and his accomplice, who was absconding. Station House Officer Umesh Kumar confirmed that the case had been registered and that an investigation was underway to determine the full extent of the intent and activities of the accused.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

In this case, two minor Hindu sisters were lured and taken away by two Muslim accused, one of whom has been identified as Arbaaz, who made them wear a burqa. Given that the victims are minors, the element of consent is legally irrelevant under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, as minors do not possess the legal capacity to consent to such actions. Any movement of the victims away from their lawful guardians under inducement or deception would therefore constitute a serious criminal offence. The circumstances of the case particularly the fact that the victims were made to wear burqas, raises questions about the intent of the accused. Often in such cases, the accused makes the victims wear burqa in an effort to familiarise or condition the victims to adopt foreign religious practises or customs. This is done so as to make the victims more susceptible to religious conversion in future. However, in the absence of concrete evidence in this case, it is equally plausible that the burqa was used purely as a means of concealment to avoid identification and facilitate movement without drawing attention. At present, there is no verified evidence indicating that the victims were targeted on the basis of their religious identity, or they were made to wear burqa for religious conversion, nor have official statements or the family’s complaint explicitly attributed a religious motive to the incident. The investigation remains ongoing, and the full circumstances, including the intent and prior relationship (if any) between the accused and the victims, are yet to be established. Given the absence of conclusive evidence pointing to a clearly defined motive, this case has been placed in the Undecided Database. Should further findings emerge that clarify the intent behind the crime, the classification may be revised accordingly. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when an event occurred or when the victim's ordeal began. It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case has specified the exact date when the accused came into contact with the victims. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media, 3 December 2025.