Minor Hindu girl brainwashed against Hinduism for religious conversion by Muslim man; attempts suicide due to severe harassment
Dindori, Madhya Pradesh, India 
17 September, 2023
Case Summary
In Dindori district, Madhya Pradesh, a 16-year-old Hindu girl was subjected to sustained mental harassment for religious conversion by a Muslim youth named Sahil Ali. The accused even attempted to manipulate the victim against Hinduism. According to reports, the accused, who worked at a local puncture shop, had been emotionally manipulating and harassing the minor Hindu girl for the past two years, causing severe stress, which was also affecting her studies. He was also pressuring her to convert to Islam and was mentally abusing her to make her run away from her home. The victim's family also stated that Sahil Ali would throw biryani into their house from the roof and then leave, further creating a distressing situation for the minor girl. The victim even attempted suicide twice due to his harassment. The victim’s mother also revealed that her daughter had come into contact with the accused through four individuals from the Muslim community, including two boys and two girls. She added that under their influence, her daughter began saying that Hinduism was not good. Subsequently, with the help of Hindu organisations, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the National Bajrang Dal, the victim's family filed a complaint with the police demanding strict action against the accused. As of the date of writing this report, the police have registered a case and initiated an investigation, taking statements from the girl and her family. Police assured that legal action would be taken after the investigation.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The case has been added to the tracker under the prime category- Predatory proselytisation. Under this, the sub-category selected is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. Within this, the tertiary categories selected are- Conversion of Minor and Family claims grooming. 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 sub-category selected here 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 - Attempting to convert/converting by denigrating Hinduism. In several cases, Hindus are converted or an attempt is made to convert Hindus by denigrating their faith, Hinduism. In such cases, the Hindus associate with the non-Hindu perpetrators often by choice and then, the attempt to convert them by insulting their faith, showing the faith down etc begins. An example of this would be a non-Hindu gathering where the Hindus are attending the gathering of their own free will. However, once they attend the gathering, there is an explicit attempt to convert them by abusing their faith and hailing the faith of the perpetrator. The denigration of the Hindu faith is often based on misrepresentation of the Hindu faith, its doctrine and scriptures and insult to espoused traditions if not blatant lies about Hindu beliefs and ways. Such conversions or attempts at conversions are driven by animosity towards the Hindu faith and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. This case has been added to the tracker because a minor Hindu girl was subjected to sustained mental harassment and emotional manipulation for the purpose of religious conversion by the Muslim accused. 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. Since this case exemplifies the use of coercion and manipulation to achieve religious conversion, it is a blatant act of religious hate, which is why it has been documented here in the hate tracker. The accused employed sustained harassment and emotional manipulation in an effort to convert the girl. He threw food into the family home and was manipulating the girl to run away from her home. The intention was to isolate the minor girl and break her down emotionally, physically, and spiritually, so that she could be converted. She was harassed to the point that she even attempted suicide in order to escape the situation. Pressuring a Hindu to discard her religious faith is not merely an infringement on choice, but a direct assault on her religious identity and dignity. This is not random harassment; it is systematic, targeted, and rooted in religious animosity. The victim’s mother revealed that her daughter was also being influenced against Hinduism, where the minor girl began saying that Hinduism was not good. This reflects a deliberate attempt by the accused to instil negative perceptions of Hinduism inside the victim. It was an attempt to make her feel inferior about her own faith, weakening her attachment to Hinduism and making her more susceptible to conversion. Such ideological manipulation forms a key part of the broader strategy of coercion, as it attacks the victim’s beliefs and religious identity. Such acts are instances where non-Hindu perpetrators denigrate the Hindu faith to convert the Hindu victim to their faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. Such actions stem from inherent hostility towards the victim's professed faith, since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent is subject to being dehumanised until they convert. Therefore, religious conversions, even of minors, are often seen as a badge of honour, totally disregarding the methods used to achieve it. Such actions 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 Hindu without her volition. Such predatory actions stem from doctrinal animosity towards the Hindu faith and its adherents. Therefore, this case is being documented under the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case have specified the exact date when the victim's ordeal began, though it is mentioned that the victim was under severe mental stress for the past two years. Thus, to document this case, we have used an indicative date—September 18, 2023—as a placeholder to represent the beginning of her suffering. While media coverage of the incident emerged later, the Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began, not when it was reported.
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
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
