Hindu minor girl lured and targeted for religious conversion by Muslim man in Uttar Pradesh
Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh, India 
27 October, 2025
Case Summary
A Hindu minor girl was lured away and influenced for religious conversion by Ghulam Mohammed, a Muslim man from the Rehra Bazar area of the district. The mother filed a complaint stating that the perpetrator befriended the minor girl and gradually influenced her with the specific intention of converting her religion. The mother approached the authorities after discovering the circumstances in which her daughter had been taken away. The case drew significant attention within the local community after the woman detailed how the man had deliberately targeted her minor daughter with the objective of religious conversion. The Hindu woman submitted a written complaint stating that Ghulam Mohammed, from the Rehra Bazar Police Station area, had established contact with her minor daughter. According to the complaint, the perpetrator used persuasion and familiarity to influence the girl and eventually took her away from her family. The mother reported that the man had been interacting with the girl and gradually encouraged her to leave with him. The mother further stated that the perpetrator had approached the minor with the intention of converting her religion. After learning of the situation, she approached the police and submitted a complaint explaining how her daughter had been taken away and influenced. The matter gained seriousness because the victim was a minor, and the complaint indicated that the man's actions were directly connected to religious conversion. Police identified the perpetrator as Ghulam Mohammed, approximately thirty years old, a resident of the village of Idris Abdullah Miya Purwa within the Rehra Bazar Police Station jurisdiction. Following the complaint, the police initiated efforts to locate Mohammed, who had been avoiding arrest. The police registered a case in connection with the complaint under provisions related to the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act—legislation that prohibits conversion through coercion, deception, or inducement. After gathering technical evidence and local intelligence and conducting continuous searches, the police located and arrested Ghulam Mohammed. He was taken into custody by the Rehra Bazar Police and presented before a magistrate following the completion of initial legal procedures. Authorities stated that the arrest formed part of ongoing enforcement efforts against unlawful religious conversion activities, and the investigation continues.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category for this case now is "Predatory Proselytisation". The sub-category here is "Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination". The tertiary categories is "Family claims grooming" and "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 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 qualified as a religiously motivated hate crime because a Hindu minor girl was deliberately targeted and influenced by a Muslim man who established contact with her and persuaded her to leave her family environment with the stated intention of religious conversion. The complaint filed by the mother indicated that the perpetrator cultivated familiarity with the girl and gradually influenced her actions. The targeting of a vulnerable minor and the attempt to convert her religion formed the central element of the incident and demonstrated that the victim’s religious identity was directly implicated in the actions taken by the perpetrator. The circumstances of the case demonstrated predatory proselytisation directed at a Hindu minor girl. The Muslim perpetrator developed contact with the minor and built trust with her before persuading her to leave with him. Such actions reflected a pattern in which a perpetrator gradually established influence over a vulnerable individual before encouraging behaviour that removed the victim from the safety and supervision of her family. In this case, the perpetrator’s interaction with the girl culminated in her leaving with him, which the mother later detailed to authorities as part of the attempt to convert her daughter’s religion. The case also demonstrated proselytisation through grooming and manipulation. The complaint indicated that the perpetrator used familiarity and persuasion to influence the minor. Grooming behaviour typically involved developing emotional influence and trust over time in order to shape the decisions of the targeted individual. In this incident, the girl was influenced to leave with the perpetrator, which reflected the culmination of this grooming process and illustrated how such influence was used to move a vulnerable victim toward actions that placed her under the control of the perpetrator. The involvement of a Hindu minor girl further intensified the seriousness of the case because minors are particularly vulnerable to manipulation and influence. The complaint submitted by the mother specifically indicated that the perpetrator targeted her minor daughter and attempted to influence her religious identity. Because the victim was a child, the attempt to convert her religion carried additional gravity and highlighted the vulnerability of young individuals who can be influenced through prolonged interaction and persuasion. The Hindu victim was a minor, which means that 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. Since the religious motive of the crime is evident from the facts of the case, it has been documented in the hate 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 1
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
