Hindu woman and her two children abducted and forcibly converted to Islam by Muslim group in Bihar’s Katihar
Katihar, Bihar, India 
21 June, 2025
Case Summary
In Sharifganj, Katihar district of Bihar, a Hindu woman and her two minor children were abducted and forcibly converted to Islam by a group of Muslim individuals led by Mohammad Raja. According to the complaint filed by the victim's husband, Banarasi Yadav, he lived with his wife Shivani Devi and their children in the Naya Tola area of Sharifganj. The primary accused, Mohammad Raja, had been stalking the family for several months, frequently peeping into their house in the middle of the night. After catching him in the act, an attempt was made to convince him, but to no avail, and he continued his behaviour without consequence. On June 22, Mohammad Raja, along with Mohammad Samad, Bibi Munni, Mohammad Ajiju, Mohammad Kalam, and 10–15 unidentified accomplices, kidnapped Shivani Devi and her two minor children. Banarasi Yadav stated that after abducting them, the accused converted his wife and children to Islam and that Mohammad Raja was now keeping them with him. After the police complaint was filed, the accused made a video targeting Banarasi's associate, Prakash Yadav and threatened to kill him. The incident has created tension in the village. As of the date of this report, a case was registered by the police, and an investigation was ongoing.
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 second sub-category selected is: - 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 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 has been added to the tracker because a Hindu woman and her two minor children were kidnapped by a group of Muslim individuals led by Mohammad Raja. The attack was clearly premeditated and deliberate, as the accused was stalking the Hindu family, peeping into their house, for several months before kidnapping them. This proves that the family was targeted specifically because of their Hindu identity. The aim was not merely to kidnap, but to erase the victim's religious identity and convert them to Islam. Furthermore, by kidnapping the woman along with her children, the accused aimed to sever her from her cultural roots, her social environment, and any form of external support, thereby increasing her vulnerability and making her conversion easier. The abduction was not a random criminal act—it was motivated by the perpetrators’ desire to assert control and erase her Hindu identity. Such acts violate the woman's right to practice her religion freely. It is important to note here that the victim's children were minors at the time of kidnapping and religious conversion. Therefore, since the children were minors, they were incapable of providing informed consent to such conversion activities. It is a well-established fact that children are more susceptible to manipulation since they are still developing emotionally, cognitively, and socially. Their brains are not fully mature, making them more vulnerable. This case demonstrates a calculated strategy of targeting those who are less able to resist or understand the long-term implications of conversion, making it a significant case of religious-motivated hate crime. 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 their volition. Hence, this case is categorised as a hate crime. Disclaimer: In the victim’s police complaint, five perpetrators are explicitly named. However, it is also stated that an additional group of approximately 10 to 15 unidentified individuals were involved in the crime. Since no exact number is provided for the unidentified accomplices, for documentation and database consistency, we have recorded the maximum estimated count of 20 perpetrators in this case.
Victim Details
Total Victim
3
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 2
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 3
- General 0
- Unknown 0
Age Group
- Minor 2
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 10 to 100
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
