Hindu girls systematically targeted by a Muslim gang impersonating Hindus: crime perversely justified by the accused as acts of ‘sawaab’
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India 
17 April, 2025
Case Summary
In Bhopal, a network of young men who targeted Hindu girls using false identities and religious symbols to gain their trust was uncovered. The group, led by Farhan Khan, was found to have systematically lured Hindu girls into relationships, sexually assaulted them, and then blackmailed them using explicit videos. According to information obtained during police interrogation, the group viewed these actions as acts of religious merit. The accused expressed no remorse and detailed how they considered it their aim to ruin the lives of as many Hindu girls as possible, beginning their activities with students from T.I.T. College in Bhopal. Farhan Khan was arrested following a complaint by a survivor from Indore. During his remand, he admitted to building a network of men who similarly deceived and assaulted girls, mostly those living away from their families in rented accommodations. The group forced the girls into repeated abuse by circulating videos, threatening exposure, and coercing them into physical relationships with others. Pressure was also placed on victims to convert, eat prohibited meat, and abandon their faith. When asked about the incident, Farhan explicitly said that by raping Hindu girls he had done a virtuous deed. The word used by him to describe his action was 'sawab'. It is an Arabic word which means reward or good deed. As the case unfolded, more survivors came forward. By April 2025, eight Hindu girls had registered complaints. Police confirmed that several videos had been recovered from the accused. So far, eleven accused have been arrested, including Farhan’s sister Zoya and her husband, with one suspect, Abrar, still at large. Another absconding accused, Nabeel, was tracked and caught in Bhopal despite efforts to evade police across Bihar and West Bengal. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) was probing deeper into the financial and logistical support the network may have received. One of the complaints also involved an incident of gang rape. The National Commission for Women took note of the case and constituted a three-member investigation team to monitor the developments.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case is categorised under the primary category- Hate Speech against Hindus. Under that, the relevant sub-categoryis- Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith. Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. Farhan Khan’s statement constitutes hate speech under multiple definitions. His recorded statements to the police, where he described the rape of Hindu girls as sawaab (a meritorious act), fall squarely within the definition of incitement to hatred and dehumanisation on religious grounds. By openly stating that such acts were virtuous in his religious view, he not only justified horrific violence against a Hindu community but also spread the dangerous idea that assaulting women of a Hindu faith is an acceptable, even commendable, religious act. This is not only hate speech but also glorification of communal violence under the guise of religious duty. His speech denies the individual dignity and safety of Hindu women and mocks the community’s suffering, reducing religious identity to a justification for abuse. The use of religious terminology to endorse crimes also attempts to lend moral authority to acts of violence, thereby spreading communal hatred. Thus, this case constitutes a hate crime. This incident is linked to a previously documented case already included in the Hinduphobia database, where the focus was on the predatory proselytisation aspect of the crime. However, in this update, the emphasis is on the hate speech delivered by the perpetrator, which is being recorded as a separate but related incident to highlight the multiple layers of religiously motivated hate involved. Disclaimer: Multiple Hindu girls were targeted by the Muslim grooming gang, but as of now, eight have officially filed complaints. For documentation purposes, we are recording the victim count as 11. If further investigation reveals more victims and additional complaints are registered, the count will be updated accordingly. Similarly, since eleven accused have been arrested so far and one suspect, Abrar, remains at large, we are currently recording the accused count as 12. This number will be revised if additional perpetrators are identified during the investigation.
Victim Details
Total Victim
8
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 8
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 8
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 8
Case Status
Case sub-judice
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 10 to 100
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
