Case Summary

A 14-year-old Hindu girl was abducted, raped, forcibly converted to Islam, and subsequently married to a Muslim man in Mirpurkhas, Sindh, Pakistan. As per reports, the minor Hindu girl was abducted, subjected to rape, forcibly converted to Islam, and married to Bilal Khanzada at the Madrasa Bait al Salam in Badin. In a pattern common to such cases, her age was falsified to show her as 18 years old. The victim's name was forcibly changed to Aisha. The girl’s family filed a police case, but no action was taken. The Muslim perpetrator produced false affidavits to present the religious conversion and marriage as voluntary. Based on affidavits from clerics, the Pakistani court ruled that the girl had converted to Islam of her own free will. Several reports suggest that every year in Pakistan, particularly in Sindh, numerous cases of abduction, forced conversion, and marriage of Hindu girls to Muslim men are reported. Victims are often coerced through threats, manipulation, or outright violence. This case highlights the persecution faced by the Hindu minorities in Pakistan, marked by systemic discrimination, violence, and forced conversions. Hindu women, particularly young girls, are often abducted, forcibly converted to Islam, and married off to Muslim men with little to no legal recourse. Temples are frequently vandalised or destroyed, and Hindu communities are subjected to social and economic marginalisation. Blasphemy laws are disproportionately used against Hindus, leading to false accusations and severe punishments. Many Hindu families are forced to flee their homes due to religious intolerance, living in constant fear of attacks. This sustained persecution highlights the dire conditions for Hindus in Pakistan, where their religious identity makes them targets of oppression.

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Why it is Hate Crime ?

The prime category under which this case has been placed is- Predatory Proselytisation, and within this, the sub-category selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected within this is- 'Conversion of minor' and 'Rape and Sexual Assault/ Harassment'. 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- 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 case has been categorised as a hate crime, as the abduction, rape, and forced conversion of a minor Hindu girl, followed by her marriage to a Muslim man in Pakistan’s Sindh province, starkly illustrate the exploitation of vulnerable Hindu minority through coercion and manipulation. Such incidents are not isolated instances, rather they demonstrate a persistent and troubling pattern in Pakistan, where Hindu minorities, particularly young girls are frequently targeted for kidnappings, rape, forced religious conversion, and marriage to Muslim men. Even the courts in this case side with the Muslim perpetrator and legitimise this crime of forced conversion and marriage of the young Hindu girl. This ongoing trend highlights the systemic discrimination and violence faced by Hindu communities, which have endured harassment, marginalisation, and abuse since the country’s inception. The victim’s status as a minor is critical, as it negates any genuine element of consent or voluntary change of faith from the outset. Children, due to their ongoing emotional and cognitive development, are especially susceptible to manipulation and indoctrination, making them easy targets for those seeking to exploit social or religious vulnerabilities. When acts such as abduction and coercion are perpetrated against Hindu minors, it is done with an agenda to convert them to the perpetrator's religion and exploit them. Minors don't have the maturity to make long-term decisions like converting to another religion. Such actions of exploitation and forced conversion of minor Hindu girls clearly stem from hatred towards the victim's Hindu faith. Another significant aspect is that the girl was raped after being abducted and thereafter converted to Islam. Such instances of sexual violence to further conversion agendas are carried out with the aim of subjugating the Hindu victim and stripping her of her religious identity. These actions stem from deep-seated animosity towards Hindus, rooted in Islamic theology that advocates for the complete subjugation of non-Muslims and the exploitation of their women to further their religious goals of conversions. This makes this case a clear example of a religiously motivated crime against Hindus. This case highlights the animosity towards the Hindu community held by Muslim extremists, and it further contributes to their persecution at the hands of the Muslim majority in Pakistan. It exemplifies the broader crisis of forced conversions and systemic persecution faced by Hindu minorities in Pakistan. Since the motive of the crime was rooted in religious animosity and hatred towards Hindus, therefore, it has been categorised as a hate crime and included in the Hinduphobia Tracker.