Two minor Hindu girls abducted: forcibly converted, made to wear burkha and perform namaz by Muslim family
Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India 
12 May, 2025
Case Summary
In Nauvapur village of Pratapgarh district, Uttar Pradesh, two Hindu minor sisters, aged 13 and 17, were lured, kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam by a Muslim family. They were also forced to wear burkhas and recite Namaz. According to the complaint filed by the girls’ mother, Kalawati, her daughters had gone missing on the evening of May 13 after they left the house to meet a Muslim woman named Sabreen. When the girls failed to return home, Kalawati approached Sabreen, who started abusing her and turned her away. Kalawati then called the police and began searching for her daughters. During the inquiry, it was revealed that Sabreen’s husband, Kaleem alias Badkanne, Monu alias Sabir, Saif Ali, and three other unidentified individuals had forcibly taken the Hindu girls somewhere after making them wear burqas. Another Muslim woman named Majida Begum was also seen escorting one of the girls out of the village. Police launched a search operation, and on the evening of May 15, 2025, both minor girls were rescued from the railway station. According to statements given by the victims and her brother, they were held captive in the accused’s residence and forcibly converted to Islam. They were also made to wear burqas and forced to recite Namaz. It is said that the girls were being taken to Pune, where the accused were planning to sell them. As of the date of writing this report, police registered a case against the accused and a search operation was underway to nab the accused, who were at large.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of: - Predatory proselytisation. Within it, the first sub-category selected is: - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, with the tertiary category being: - Conversion of minor and Family claims grooming. 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 sub-category relevant here 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. This case is a distinct case of religiously motivated hate crime as the Muslim perpetrator employed threat and coercion to attempt to get the Hindu victim to give up her professed faith and accept Islam, an alien faith for her. In order to pressure her into conversion, the accused compelled the victim to follow Islamic practices like wearing a hijab and offering Namaz. The fact that the victims were minors and they were about to be trafficked after being converted makes this crime even more egregious. The details of the case make it evident that the crime was perpetrated with a specific intention to alienate the victims from their Hindu identity, while also harbouring a bias against the Hindu faith, hence, this case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under Predatory Proselytisation. It is also important to mention that since the victim, in this case, is a minor, there was an absence of both consent and a genuine change of conscience. 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 to influence and less capable of critically evaluating information. Moreover, subtle manipulation tactics can be difficult to detect, making it challenging for parents to identify and address instances of religious manipulation. Consequently, cases involving religious manipulation of minors not only represent an infringement on an individual's religious freedom but also demonstrate 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.
Victim Details
Total Victim
2
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 2
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 2
Age Group
- Minor 2
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
