Minor Hindu girl lured, raped and pressured to convert to Islam in Kushinagar
Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, India 
9 June, 2025
Case Summary
In the Vishunpura police station area of Kushinagar, a minor Hindu girl was lured away, raped and forcefully converted to Islam. A teenage girl from a village in the Vishunpura police station area was lured and abducted by a youth from a Muslim community with the help of three others. The first time the youth was taken into custody, the police released him, and even after receiving a written complaint, they did not register a case. Later, the youth abducted the girl again, raped her, and forcibly converted her to Islam. When the girl returned home, she told her family everything. Distressed by the local police's inaction, the family met the Superintendent of Police (SP) and lodged a complaint. The SP directed the Circle Officer (CO) of Tamkuhiraj to investigate the matter. The CO's investigation found the complaint to be valid, and when preliminary negligence by Vishunpura Station House Officer (SHO) Raju Singh was established, the SP suspended him. The police registered a case against Meraj, a resident of Loharpatti, Vishunpura police station, who raped and converted the girl, as well as his accomplices—his brother Seraj, his mother Haseena Khatoon, and Meruddin alias Merajuddin Ansari, a resident of Batrauli, Dudhukhadwa, Vishunpura police station. SP Santosh Kumar Mishra stated that the SHO has been suspended for negligence. Following the investigation, a case was registered regarding the forced religious conversion, and a further police inquiry was underway.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker un the primary category of - Predatory Proselytisation. The sub-category selected here is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, and within it, the tertiary categories selected are - 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. In this case, a minor Hindu girl was lured away by a Muslim man. She was converted to Islam and raped by the Muslim perpetrator. It is also important to mention that since the victim, in this case, is a minor, there was an absence of both consent and a genuine change of conscience. It is a well-established fact that children are more susceptible to manipulation since they are still developing emotionally, cognitively, and socially. Their brains are not fully mature, making them more vulnerable to influence and less capable of critically evaluating information. Moreover, subtle manipulation tactics can be difficult to detect, making it challenging for parents to identify and address instances of religious manipulation. Consequently, cases involving religious manipulation of minors not only represent an infringement on an individual's religious freedom but also demonstrate a calculated strategy of targeting those who are less able to resist or understand the long-term implications of conversion, making it a significant case of religious-motivated hate crime. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that the report does not specify the exact date when the girl's ordeal began. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media.
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 1
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
