Hindu minor girl befriended and lured to Bangladesh by Bangladeshi Muslim man

Case ID : e899545 | Location : Naogaon District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Tue, 27 May, 2025

Case ID : e899545

Naogaon District, Bangladesh

27 May, 2025

Hindu minor girl befriended and lured to Bangladesh by Bangladeshi Muslim man

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Brainwashed and/or groomed

Case Summary

A 16-year-old Hindu girl from West Bengal was lured into a relationship and later enticed to Bangladesh by a Bangladeshi Muslim man. According to news reports, the victim is a minor Hindu girl (age 16), resident of Kashempur village in the Malda district of West Bengal. The accused, Masud, is a resident of Sapahar Upazila in the Naogaon district of Bangladesh. A few years ago, Masud befriended the girl from West Bengal on Facebook and eventually persuaded her to enter into a relationship. Later, Masud illegally entered India and worked there for several months. During that time, Masud and the girl developed an intimate relationship. Recently, the pair decided to marry, but due to the lack of a visa, Masud was unable to return to India. So, the girl decided to go to Bangladesh to marry Masud. On the evening of 28th May 2025, she entered Bangladesh illegally through the India-Bangladesh international border, where Masud received her and took her to his home. As she was not Bangladeshi, local residents surrounded her, took photographs, and gathered around her. Bangladeshi police discovered the situation and arrived at the scene. The police initially told her to return, but she refused to return and insisted on marrying Masud. She was later arrested by the police for illegally entering Bangladesh.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Crimes Against Women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Brainwashed and/or groomed. In our database, we have not added incidents where women have converted to another religion of their free will and no allegations of forced/involuntary conversion have been made. However, there are certain cases of conversion where the consent itself is a result of the brainwashing or grooming of a minor by the non-Hindu perpetrator trying to victimise a woman for her Hindu religious identity. The phenomenon of grooming points to non-Hindu perpetrators identifying their Hindu victims’ vulnerabilities and exploiting them over months and sometimes years, to extract the supposed ‘consent’ in order to convert their religion. In most cases of grooming, the victims are minors or the grooming started when the victim was a minor. In other cases of grooming, the non-Hindu perpetrator brainwashes and grooms a minor victim to extract their trust and then proceeds to rape them repeatedly with the intent of converting them to their faith. It is pertinent to understand here that when the victim is a minor, the ‘consent’ to convert or enter into a romantic relationship with an adult itself is redundant – addressed by POCSO. While every case of conversion of a minor and incidents of establishing a physical relationship with a minor by an adult is a crime, for the purpose of this database, a case would be considered a hate crime only if there is a distinct religious angle to the grooming. For example, in the UK, if a Hindu minor is targeted by Pakistani grooming gangs, it would be considered a hate crime because the victims are specifically targeted owing to their non-Muslim religious identity with the perpetrators being Muslim. In other cases, if a Hindu minor is brainwashed into entering a physical relationship with the non-Hindu adult perpetrator and the family alleges grooming/brainwashing of the minor to convert her religion, it would form a part of this database. If the victim is a Hindu adult, the case would form a part of this database only if the victim herself says that she was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. However, if the victim is deceased (murdered or otherwise), the case would form a part of this database if her family/friends provided testimony that the victim was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. Since these crimes have a distinct religious angle where the victim is being targeted owing to her Hindu religious identity, these cases are considered a hate crime. In this case, the minor Hindu girl was lured away by a Muslim man. 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. 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 their decisions, making it a significant case of religious-motivated hate crime. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that the report does not specify the exact date when the victim's ordeal began, but it mentions that the victim entered Bangladesh illegally through the Bharat-Bangladesh International border on May 28, 2025. Since this is the earliest date mentioned, we are considering this as when the victim's ordeal began and using this as the incident date. While media coverage of the incident emerged on May 29, 2025, the Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began, not when it was reported.