Minor Hindu girl held captive, assaulted, and sexually exploited for religious conversion by Muslim cleric; tilak wiped and kalava removed to coerce conversion
Palwal, Haryana, India 
24 September, 2025
Case Summary
In Palwal district, Haryana, a minor Hindu girl was abducted, held captive and sexually exploited for religious conversion by members of the Muslim community led by a Muslim cleric. The accused also removed the tilak from her forehead and cut her kalava (sacred thread) in an effort to convert her. According to reports, when the victim's father returned home in the evening, he discovered that his daughter was missing. Together with his wife and another villager, he began searching for her, and he heard screams coming from the mosque. When he entered the mosque, he found the cleric and a teenage boy assaulting his daughter. He further stated that there were four other men and two women, who stood with a Quran in hand, were in the process of converting the minor girl to Islam. The victim also revealed that the Muslim cleric had cut the kalava (sacred thread) from her wrist, wiped the tilak from her forehead, compelled her to recite Islamic prayers, and sexually molested her while pressuring her to convert. The victim's father had a confrontation with the accused and rescued the girl. As the family attempted to leave, armed men blocked their way and threatened to kill them if they reported or escalated the matter, but they somehow managed to escape and inform the police. The father stated that his daughter has been performing yagya (fire sacrifice) daily for 10 years. She also applies a tilak after the puja (worship) and has performed yagya (fire sacrifice) in over a hundred homes. She also leads children in the village community meeting. The father states that this was why the Muslim cleric and others targeted his daughter, and they were also threatening her for several months. On the basis of the complaint filed by the victim's father, an FIR was registered at Sadar Palwal police station against eight people under several provisions, including Section 12 of the POCSO Act and the Religious Conversion Act. The cleric and a juvenile were arrested while a search operation was underway to nab the remaining accused. The incident provoked widespread communal tension in the village, leading to heavy police deployment around the mosque and other sensitive locations. Deputy Superintendent of Police Narendra Khatana confirmed that immediate action had been taken and assured that all those involved would be brought to justice. The victim was placed under counselling to address the trauma, and officials stated that a thorough investigation was in progress.
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 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 relevant here is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, with the tertiary category being - Conversion of minor 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. The second primary category selected here is - Attack on Hindu religious representations. Within it, the sub-category selected here is - Desecration of Hindu religious symbol. Icons and symbols or a religious representation of a spiritual ideal are widely revered in Hinduism. Iconography is of vital significance in the Hindu milieu. It helps connect people’s spiritual beliefs with the real world. Iconography within the Hindu faith takes several shapes and forms. Murtis are of most significance to Hindus, to which daily rituals, prayers and offerings are done. Besides the murtis, there are several other symbols which have deep significance in the Hindu faith – the Om and Swastika for example. Since these Hindu religious symbols hold paramount importance in Hinduism, any desecration of symbols, icons, murtis, religious representations and manifestations, is driven by animosity towards the faith itself which manifests itself through these murtis, icons and symbols. Therefore, any desecration of these Hindu religious symbols and representations is considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. The third primary category selected here is - Attack not resulting in death. Within it, the sub-category selected here is - Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim. In several cases, Hindus are attacked for opposing religiously motivated crimes being committed against a fellow Hindu or simply for voicing an opinion opposing radical elements, who either have in the past or continue to persecute Hindus. In such cases, the initial attack against the victim, against which the Hindu was trying to defend the victim, would also need to be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime. Since the initial crime itself was religiously motivated and the subsequent crime of attempting to save the victim or speaking against the radical elements ends up inviting a violent attack, it would also be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. This case has been added to the tracker because a minor Hindu girl in Palwal, Haryana, was abducted, held captive, and sexually exploited by members of the Muslim community led by a Muslim cleric. The accused abducted her and held her captive, attempting to force the Hindu victim to renounce her religion and convert to Islam. Pressuring a Hindu individual to discard her faith is not a matter of personal choice; it is coercion rooted in hostility towards the victim’s Hindu identity. Such an attempt reflects religious animosity because the act is aimed at erasing the victim’s Hindu faith, making this a religiously motivated crime. The victim was isolated, assaulted and sexually exploited by the accused and his accomplices. In such cases, sexual violence, abduction, and captivity serve the purpose of physical subjugation and religious humiliation. The intention is to break the victim down emotionally, physically, and spiritually, so that she can be coerced into conversion. This was not random violence; it is systematic, targeted, and rooted in religious animosity. Even the tilak and kalava were removed by the accused. The tilak on her forehead and the kalava (sacred thread) are not mere decorative symbols but hold profound religious and cultural significance in Hinduism. By removing the tilak and cutting the kalava, the accused were attempting to alienate her from her Hindu identity. Removing these religious symbols was a symbolic act of severing her connection to her faith and facilitating her conversion to Islam. Such acts are deeply disrespectful and constitute an attack on the core values and practices of Hinduism. It is further 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. 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. 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. The threats faced by the victim’s father when he attempted to rescue her further highlight the premeditated nature of the crime. Armed men blocked the family and warned them not to report the incident, demonstrating the lengths the accused were willing to go to enforce conversion. This was not personal vengeance; it was a calculated attempt to intimidate the Hindu victim and her family and to coerce the girl into abandoning her faith. Additionally, as the father stated, the victim was targeted specifically because of her Hindu identity and outward religious life. She has been performing yagya (fire sacrifices) for ten years, applies tilak after puja, has conducted yagya in over a hundred homes, and leads children in community rituals in the village. This shows that the attack was not random but aimed at undermining her Hindu identity. The combination of abduction, sexual assault, threats, coercion, and deliberate targeting of religious symbols makes this a clear case of a religiously motivated hate crime.
Victim Details
Total Victim
2
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 2
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Case sub-judice
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 5 to 10
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
