Case Summary

In the Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh, several Hindu women were targeted, sexually exploited and blackmailed for religious conversion by a group of Muslim men, who operated a religious conversion gang under the guise of a gymnasium. According to reports, the accused, identified as Mohammad Sheikh Ali Alam, Faisal Khan, Zaheer, Shadab, and gang leader Imran Khan, operated local gyms named KGN-1, KGN-2, KGN-3, and Iron Fire. Under the guise of gym training, they befriended Hindu girls and women, luring them into a relationship and then pressured them to convert to Islam. Two of their victims approached the police and filed a complaint against the accused on 20 January 2026. The victims stated that they were first befriended at the gym by the accused, who gradually lured them into relationships and then sexually exploited them. The accused also recorded their private photographs and videos without consent and subsequently used them to blackmail and intimidate them. The victims were mentally, financially, and emotionally harassed through repeated threats of defamation, circulation of obscene material, and physical harm, with sustained pressure to convert to Islam. One victim stated that she was forced to wear a burqa and photographed, with the images later used as a tool of coercion and extortion. Following the registration of separate complaints at Kotwali Dehat and City police stations, Mirzapur Police formed multiple investigation teams and arrested Mohammad Sheikh Ali Alam and Faisal Khan on 20 January 2026. Subsequent interrogation and digital evidence recovered from mobile phones led to the detention and arrest of Zaheer, identified as the owner of KGN-1 gym, and Shadab, both of whom were part of the same network. Police investigations later identified Imran Khan as the alleged leader of the organised gang, which was accused of operating in a coordinated manner across multiple gyms to target Hindu women. To preserve evidence and prevent further exploitation, all four gyms were sealed. In a subsequent development, Mirzapur Police invoked the Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act against the 10 accused linked to the case, including the gang leader Imran Khan. Police described the operation as an organised criminal network involved in illegal religious conversions, blackmail, extortion, and intimidation of women. All accused were to be lodged in the district jail, while the police simultaneously initiated proceedings to identify and confiscate properties allegedly acquired through criminal activities. According to investigators, the gang systematically targeted young Hindu women visiting the gyms, trapped them in relationships, recorded objectionable photographs and videos, and used the material to blackmail and coerce the victims. Police stated that the network functioned as an organised criminal operation intended to spread fear and intimidation in society. Police further confirmed that charge sheets had been filed in court in both registered cases after additional serious charges were added during investigation based on digital and testimonial evidence. Acting under the instructions of Superintendent of Police Aparna Rajat Kaushik, authorities stated that strict legal action would continue against all accused and others found connected to the organised network, including proceedings under organised crime and property confiscation laws.

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Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Within it, the sub-category selected is - Brainwashed and/or groomed, with the tertiary category being - Rape and sexual assault/harassment. In our database, we have not added incidents where women have converted to another religion of their free will and no allegations of forced/involuntary conversion have been made. However, there are certain cases of conversion where the consent itself is a result of the brainwashing or grooming of a minor by the non-Hindu perpetrator trying to victimise a woman for her Hindu religious identity. The phenomenon of grooming points to non-Hindu perpetrators identifying their Hindu victims’ vulnerabilities and exploiting them over months and sometimes years, to extract the supposed ‘consent’ in order to convert their religion. In most cases of grooming, the victims are minors or the grooming started when the victim was a minor. In other cases of grooming, the non-Hindu perpetrator brainwashes and grooms a minor victim to extract their trust and then proceeds to rape them repeatedly with the intent of converting them to their faith. It is pertinent to understand here that when the victim is a minor, the ‘consent’ to convert or enter into a romantic relationship with an adult itself is redundant – addressed by POCSO. While every case of conversion of a minor and incidents of establishing a physical relationship with a minor by an adult is a crime, for the purpose of this database, a case would be considered a hate crime only if there is a distinct religious angle to the grooming. For example, in the UK, if a Hindu minor is targeted by Pakistani grooming gangs, it would be considered a hate crime because the victims are specifically targeted owing to their non-Muslim religious identity with the perpetrators being Muslim. In other cases, if a Hindu minor is brainwashed into entering a physical relationship with the non-Hindu adult perpetrator and the family alleges grooming/brainwashing of the minor to convert her religion, it would form a part of this database. If the victim is a Hindu adult, the case would form a part of this database only if the victim herself says that she was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. However, if the victim is deceased (murdered or otherwise), the case would form a part of this database if her family/friends provided testimony that the victim was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. Since these crimes have a distinct religious angle where the victim is being targeted owing to her Hindu religious identity, these cases are considered a hate crime. The other sub-category selected is - Blackmailed to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman is blackmailed to convert her religion, owing to her religious identity of being a Hindu. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu man known to the victim, however, there could be cases where the relationship is not consensual and the non-Hindu man starts blackmailing a Hindu woman to convert her religion. In these cases, it is often seen that the Hindu woman is blackmailed with intimate photos and/or videos, threats of harm to her or her family, threats of violence etc. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. The second primary category selected here is - Predatory Proselytisation. Within it, the sub-category selected 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. The other sub-category selected here is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, with the tertiary category being - Pattern of targeting Hindus 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. This case was added to the tracker because multiple Hindu women were systematically targeted, sexually exploited, and blackmailed for the purpose of religious conversion by a group of Muslim men operating as an organised conversion gang. Firstly, the accused deliberately identified and targeted Hindu women, lured them into relationships under false pretences, and subjected them to sexual exploitation. During this process, obscene photographs and videos were covertly recorded and later weaponised to exert pressure, intimidation, and blackmail in order to coerce the victims into converting to Islam. These acts were not isolated or opportunistic crimes but formed part of a structured and religiously motivated strategy aimed at humiliating, subjugating, and dominating Hindu women specifically because of their faith. The target was not the victims as individuals, but their Hindu identity. The specific focus on their Hindu identity in the commission of these acts highlights the religious hatred underlying the crime, making it a religiously motivated offence. Secondly, the accused further attempted to compel the victims to renounce Hinduism and embrace Islam, an act that constituted a direct assault on their religious identity, dignity, and autonomy. Pressuring a Hindu individual to discard her religious faith and embrace another was a direct attack on her religious identity and dignity. 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, the Muslim accused sexually exploited the Hindu victims and obtained their obscene pictures, which he later used to blackmail them for conversion. The sexual violation served as an instrument of religious humiliation, designed to shatter personal autonomy and demonstrate absolute dominance. This physical act cannot be separated from its religious context; it represented the culmination of a process intended to break the victim's connection to her culture, as the accused later pressured her for conversion. Such crimes communicate a terrifying message to the entire Hindu community: that their women represent legitimate targets for systematic predation specifically because of their religious identity. Fourth, the accused operated collectively as part of an organised group that specifically targeted Hindu women across multiple locations, reinforcing the conclusion that the offences were coordinated and ideologically driven rather than spontaneous. The pattern of targeting, the methods employed, and the stated objective of religious conversion established that the crimes stemmed from hostility towards the victims’ Hindu faith. Fifth, one of the victims revealed that she was coerced into wearing a burqa by the accused. Forcing her to wear the burqa was not just a random act; it was his deliberate and malicious attempt at religious conversion. By making her wear the burqa, he was trying to impose Islamic practices on her and push her towards accepting an Islamic lifestyle. This imposition was done to normalise Islamic customs for her, making future conversion easier and smoother. 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. Such acts were not merely personal crimes; they were rooted in a desire to dominate and erase the religious identity of the victim. 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. It is important to clarify that the report does not specify the exact date when the victim was targeted or when the exploitation began. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the FIR was filed, 20 January 2026. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker acknowledges that multiple Hindu women were targeted in the organised operation described in this case. However, as only two victims formally approached the authorities and filed police complaints at the time of documentation, the victim count has been conservatively recorded as two.