Minor Hindu girl lured, abducted and enticed for religious conversion by Muslim man in Shravasti, Uttar Pradesh
Shrawasti, Uttar Pradesh, India 
23 December, 2025
Case Summary
In Shravasti district, Uttar Pradesh, a minor Hindu girl was lured, abducted and enticed for religious conversion by a Muslim man named Sameer Ahmed. According to reports, the minor victim went missing on 24 December 2025, when she left her home to defecate. Her father filed a complaint at the Sonwa police station on 25 December 2025, after which an investigation was initiated. The victim’s mother reported that she was receiving continuous threats from the accused's family during the period her daughter was missing. Subsequently, a case was registered under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2021, along with Section 3(2)(V) of the SC/ST Act by the police. During the investigation, evidence and witness statements identified a Muslim man named Sameer Ahmed as the primary accused. Investigation also revealed that the accused had enticed the minor girl to convert to Islam. Acting on the directions of Superintendent of Police Rahul Bhati, a police team led by Sonwa police station SHO Visundev Pandey apprehended Sameer Ahmed near the Chaugoi Canal turn in Bahadgram Sonwa, while the victim was rescued safely. The accused was sent to the Bhinga court for further legal action. The case was also filed against Nadeem, who was named as the second accused. However, Nadeem's family denied his involvement and sought action against Sameer Ahmed.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Predatory proselytisation. Within it, the sub-category selected- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, with the tertiary category being - Conversion of minor. 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 the 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 proselytisation, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. The other sub-category selected here is - Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement. Predatory Proselytisation is not just limited to threat, harassment, force and violence, but it also has contours of stealth. In several cases, the Hindu victim is exploited to convert, with non-Hindus taking advantage of their poverty. In such cases, the Hindu victim who is suffering financially is offered monetary benefits, including lucrative offers for jobs, health treatment, education, etc, to induce the victim into changing his/her religion. In such cases, the religious identity of the victim and the aim to disenfranchise him from his faith form the heart of the crime. Also, taking advantage of and exploiting an individual’s economic vulnerabilities is widely acknowledged as exploitation, forms of which are often penalised by law. Such cases therefore are considered religiously motivated hate crimes since the victim’s religious identity forms the very heart of the crime itself. This case has been added to the tracker because a minor Hindu girl was abducted and enticed for religious conversion by a Muslim man named Sameer Ahmed. Firstly, it is important to note here that the victim was a minor, which means the element of consent and genuine change of conscience was missing ab initio. Minors, due to their young age and lack of maturity, are particularly vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. They may not have the ability to fully understand the implications of converting to another religion, and the Muslim perpetrator purposely targeted and exploited this vulnerability of the victim. Such acts are not merely criminal in nature; they are ideologically charged, revealing religious prejudice and a calculated intent to alter the religious identity of a minor without her volition. Secondly, the investigation established that the accused attempted to entice the minor with inducements in order to convert her to Islam. Such inducements, when directed at a vulnerable minor, show that these incentives are not acts of kindness or charity. Instead, they are calculated moves to exploit vulnerable Hindus because of their religion. By providing incentives in exchange for conversion, the accused was effectively blackmailing the minor girl, who might have been desperate for assistance or hope. It was not a matter of personal choice; it was coercion rooted in hostility towards the victim's Hindu identity. Such an attempt reflects religious animosity because the act was not simply about personal differences but about erasing the victim’s Hindu faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. Thirdly, often in such cases, the abduction of the victim served a dual purpose of physical control and religious subjugation. The intention was to isolate the victim from her family and immediate social circle so as to break her emotionally, physically, and spiritually, so that she could be converted. The actions were systematic, targeted, and rooted in religious animosity. Such actions stem from inherent hostility towards the victim's professed faith since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent to the faith is subject to being dehumanised till they convert. Therefore, religious conversions, even of minors, are often seen as a badge of honour, totally disregarding the methods used to achieve it. Since such predatory actions stem from doctrinal animosity towards the Hindu faith and its adherents, this case is being documented as a religiously motivated hate crime. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when an event occurred or when the victim's ordeal began. The victim was abducted on 24 December 2025; thus, the date of the incident has been recorded as 24 December 2025.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 1
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 0
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Case sub-judice
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
