Minor Hindu girl abducted and raped by Muslim youth in Rajkot, Gujarat

Case ID : ce94d8f | Location : Rajkot, Gujarat, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 29 October, 2023

Case ID : ce94d8f

Rajkot, Gujarat, India

29 October, 2023

Minor Hindu girl abducted and raped by Muslim youth in Rajkot, Gujarat

Undecided cases

Abduction of minor

Rape or sexual harassment/assault of a Hindu woman

Case Summary

In Rajkot, Gujarat, a 13-year-old Class 9 Hindu schoolgirl was abducted by Muslim youth named Aryan Shashif Baloch, a vegetable seller from Hodko market, who had been stalking her for several weeks. According to the police report, the girl’s grandmother had dropped her off at her Kothariya Road school in the afternoon and returned later to pick her up, only to find her missing. The distraught family searched for hours before the child’s uncle lodged a complaint at Bhaktinagar police station. Investigators learned that the accused had stalked the girl regularly from a nearby paan shop, created a fake social media profile in her name, procured her photographs, and threatened to circulate them online to blackmail her into meeting him. The victim told the authorities that she had been molested after her abduction, where the accused inappropriately touched and assaulted her. On this basis, the police registered a case under Section 363 (kidnapping) and Section 354-K (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code, along with Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The family has also demanded a full medical examination of the girl to ascertain further sexual assault. The accused and his father, both vegetable sellers in Hodko market, were familiar with the victim’s daily routine. Family members revealed that Baloch had approached the girl earlier, but was warned off by relatives when his advances came to light. Despite this, he continued to follow her until the abduction. Through timely intervention, the child was rescued unharmed late in the night, and the accused remained in custody while further investigation continued.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

In this case, a Hindu minor girl was abducted and raped by a Muslim youth. This could potentially be a crime motivated by religious profiling, as it has been observed that in many cases, Muslim perpetrators target Hindu women and minor girls due to inherent animosity towards Hindus. Hindu women and girls are very vulnerable to crimes like rape and sexual assault at the hands of Muslim men. However, it is also possible that the crime was one of opportunity, where the Hindu girl was simply accessible to the Muslim perpetrator. Meanwhile, it could also be argued that for a Muslim perpetrator, a Muslim girl would likely be more accessible than a Hindu girl. The fact that the perpetrator specifically targeted the Hindu girl could suggest religious profiling of the victim. Nevertheless, this remains speculative, as the case details provide no clear indication of religious motivations. Furthermore, neither the victim nor her family made any statements suggesting a religious motive behind the crime. For this reason, this case has been added to the 'Undecided' database. If further information emerges that hints towards a religious motivation behind this crime, then it would be reclassified and included under the Hate Crime database.