Minor Hindu girl forcibly converted and repeatedly raped by Muslim man in Kushinagar, UP
Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, India 
11 July, 2025
Case Summary
A 14-year-old Hindu girl was lured away from her home in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar district by a Muslim man named Shamshad, also known as Munna. The incident occurred under the jurisdiction of the Nebua Naurangia police station. Shamshad, a local resident, deceived the girl, forcibly converted her to Islam, and renamed her as Nargis Khatoon. After the conversion, Shamshad raped the minor repeatedly. He took her to Andhra Pradesh, close to the Kerala border, and stayed there with her until the police intervened. The girl’s family reported her disappearance, leading to a formal complaint on 12 July 2025. The police registered a case and launched an investigation. Acting on intelligence, officers orchestrated a plan to bring Shamshad and the girl back to Padrauna, where they arrested him on 24 July 2025. During interrogation, Shamshad admitted to the abduction, forced conversion, and sexual assault. Santosh Kumar Mishra, the Superintendent of Police, confirmed the details in a press conference. He stated that the case fell under the broader pattern of coercive religious conversions and affirmed that such crimes would be met with strict legal action. The minor was safely recovered and placed under protection, while Shamshad was jailed pending further legal proceedings.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category under this case is: Predatory Proselytisation. The subcategory under this category is: Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The first tertiary category under this is: Conversion of minor, and the second tertiary category is: 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 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 Kushinagar case represents a deliberate hate crime against Hindus, manifesting through predatory proselytisation, religious grooming, and sexual violence. Shamshad’s actions were not isolated offences but part of a calculated pattern wherein Hindu minors are systematically targeted for conversion through psychological manipulation, followed by physical exploitation. The forcible renaming of the victim as Nargis Khatoon and the fabrication of fraudulent identity documents demonstrate an intent not merely to convert but to erase her Hindu identity entirely. This aligns with the broader phenomenon of predatory proselytisation, where conversion is pursued not through theological persuasion but through deceit, emotional coercion, and, in this instance, sexual violence. The inclusion of rape exacerbates the severity, as sexual violence in these contexts serves a dual purpose: physical subjugation and religious humiliation. The case underscores a disturbing trend where Hindu girls are disproportionately victimised under the guise of interfaith relationships, only to be converted and abused. The systematic nature of these offences demands legal recognition as hate crimes, given their foundation in anti-Hindu animosity and their execution through psychological and physical violence. 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. 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. The earliest date mentioned is July 12, 2025, when a complaint in this case was filed by the father of the victim. Since Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began and not when it was reported, we have considered the date of the incident as July 12, 2025, though the media reported the incident on July 24, 2025.
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 
