Hindu female student initimidated and forced to perform Islamic prayers inside college hostel
Palghar, Maharashtra, India 
3 January, 2026
Case Summary
A Hindu female student was subjected to coercion at a private medical college hostel in the Posheri area of Wada taluka, Palghar district, Maharashtra, after another student attempted to force her to perform Islamic prayers. According to the complaint, the victim was a first-year physiotherapy student from Nashik residing in the college hostel. On Sunday (January 4, 2026) night, she was intercepted on the fifth floor of the hostel by another female student whose face was covered. The accused pressured the victim to perform namaz despite her repeated refusal, creating an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. The victim informed her family the following morning. After receiving no immediate response from the college management, her family approached members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad, following which the matter was brought to the attention of the police. The incident triggered tension on the campus and protests by local right-wing groups, prompting police deployment in the area. Palghar police registered a First Information Report on the night of January 5 2026, under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act. Superintendent of Police Yatish Deshmukh visited the campus and stated that CCTV footage was being examined and statements of students were being recorded to identify the accused. He said strict action would be taken against those found responsible. In response, the college administration suspended a hostel warden and a teacher pending inquiry. While VHP representatives revealed that similar incidents had occurred earlier and sought a high-level investigation, the college management denied any prior occurrence and assured cooperation with the authorities. Additional police personnel have been deployed to maintain order on campus.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The first category selected here is- Predatory Proselytisation. Within this, the sub-category selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. 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 other category selected is- Attack not resulting in death, and within this, the sub-category selected is- Attacked for Hindu identity. In several cases, Hindus are attacked merely for their Hindu identity without any perceived provocation. A classic example of this category of religiously motivated hate crime is a murder in 2016. 7 ISIS terrorists were convicted for shooting a school principal in Kanpur because they got ‘triggered’ seeing the Kalava on his wrist and tilak that he had put. In this, the Hindu victim had offered no provocation except for his Hindu religious identity. The motivation for the murder was purely religious, driven by religious supremacy. Such cases where Hindus are targeted merely for their religious identity would be documented as a hate crime under this category. This incident qualifies as a religiously motivated hate crime because a Hindu woman student was deliberately targeted within a residential educational setting and subjected to coercive religious pressure on the basis of her Hindu identity. The act of forcing her to perform Islamic prayers despite her refusal constituted an intrusion into her freedom of conscience and religious practice. The conduct reflects a pattern of grooming and manipulation rather than a spontaneous act. By confronting the victim in an isolated hostel corridor at night, concealing identity, and persisting despite resistance, the perpetrator created fear and psychological pressure. Such forced exposure to religious rituals functions as an initial step toward normalising a different faith and breaking personal religious boundaries, a recognised method used to condition individuals for eventual conversion. The targeting was identity-specific. The victim was not engaged in any interaction inviting religious discussion, nor was the act framed as voluntary worship. The pressure was imposed precisely because she was Hindu, making her religious identity the basis of harassment and intimidation. This transformed the incident from a disciplinary or interpersonal issue into an act of faith-based hostility. The setting further aggravates the violation. Hostels are spaces of safety and residence, and coercive religious acts within such spaces undermine personal security and equal access to education. The fear induced and the need for police intervention demonstrate the seriousness of the harm inflicted. Taken together, the forced religious imposition, the manipulative circumstances, and the targeting of a Hindu student establish this incident as a hate-driven act involving coercive religious interference. This is why the case warrants inclusion in the tracker.
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 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 1
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Unknown
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
female
Sources 
