Minor Hindu girl befriended, raped, blackmailed, forced to recite kalma, and pressured for nikah by Muslim brothers
Sehore, Madhya Pradesh, India 
31 December, 2021
Case Summary
In Sehore, a minor Hindu girl was befriended and raped by a Muslim youth. His brother later joined in the abuse, blackmailing her with threats of leaking photos and videos. The victim was pressured to abandon her Hindu faith, stop temple visits, and convert to Islam. Even the local mosque’s Hafiz attempted to indoctrinate her and gave her a Muslim name. The victim is a resident of Sehore and a second-year B.A. student at a college in Bhopal. In 2022, Zubair Mansuri, son of Rafiq Mansuri, who lived opposite her house, befriended her and later proposed to her, which she declined. After some time, he pressured her to come to his house. When she refused, he threatened to tell her family about their friendship. Out of fear, she went to his house, where he raped her. After sexually exploiting the victim, Zubair revealed his true intent and began pressuring her to adopt Islam and wear a burqa. Once Zubair’s brother Shoaib saw her in a compromising position with him. He, too, began pressuring her for a relationship and threatened to leak her photos and videos. When she told Zubair about his brother’s actions, he flaunted how such things are common in their religion, Islam. After that, both brothers continued to exploit her sexually. In 2024, Zubair called her to his house one day. There, he introduced the victim to Hafiz Arif, who lived in the mosque. He told her not to go to temples or perform Hindu worship, and instead to recite the Kalma. He made multiple forced attempts to make her recite the Kalma. He said that once she learned their customs, they would arrange a nikah (marriage) with Zubair. They even changed her name to Zainab Mansuri. Later, Zubair created an Instagram account under the name Zainab Mansuri and gave it to the victim to use. The victim added that since a long time has passed since the incidents, she does not remember the exact dates. When VHP and Bajrang Dal activists got wind of the situation, they met the girl’s family and encouraged her to take proper legal action. Fed up with the abuse by the two brothers, the girl finally registered a complaint against Zubair, his brother Shoaib, and Hafiz Arif of the mosque. Police have registered a case under the POCSO Act and other sections and have arrested the accused. SDOP Pooja Sharma stated that based on the girl’s complaint, a case has been registered against all three accused under the POCSO Act and the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2021. All three have been arrested.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Within it, the sub-category selected is - Forced conversion before marriage, with the tertiary category being - Forced to follow non-Hindu religious practices and Forced to do Nikah. In such cases, a non-Hindu man is in a relationship with a Hindu woman when the pressure to convert her religion begins to manifest. In such cases, typically, two patterns emerge. First, when the relationship is consensual, and the religious identity of the perpetrator is known to the Hindu woman in the relationship, however, at some point during the relationship, the non-Hindu man starts to force the victim to convert her religion and give up her Hindu religious identity. The second is when the woman gets into a marriage with the man pretending to share her faith. Later, when the truth is revealed, the man starts pressuring the woman to convert her religion and give up her religious identity. In both the situations, the methods used to force the victim to convert her religion often revolve around force-feeding beef, forcing her to wear hijab, forcing her to read the Kalma or even pressurizing the victim to do ‘Nikah’, which is marriage under Islamic law, with a prerequisite being conversion to Islam. Cases where a Hindu woman consensually converts to Islam in a relationship will be left out of the hate crime database, even though it could be argued in several cases that the conversion was a result of religious brainwashing. The other sub-category selected is - Blackmailed to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman is blackmailed to convert her religion, owing to her religious identity of being a Hindu. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu man known to the victim, however, there could be cases where the relationship is not consensual and the non-Hindu man starts blackmailing a Hindu woman to convert her religion. In these cases, it is often seen that the Hindu woman is blackmailed with intimate photos and/or videos, threats of harm to her or her family, threats of violence etc. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. The other sub-category selected is - Assault or threat upon refusal to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman faces threats or assault after she refuses to convert and change her religious identity owing to pressure/force by the non-Hindu man. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu man known to the victim. Somewhere along the relationship, the non-Hindu man starts pressurizing the Hindu woman to convert to Islam and upon her refusal, assaults or threatens the victim. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. Cases where the Hindu woman converts to Islam and does not file a complaint about the force or threat, are not considered a part of the hate tracker, even though, it may be argued that the woman was brainwashed or threatened to convert to Islam. The other sub-category selected is - Brainwashed and/or Groomed, and within it, the tertiary category selected is - Conversion of minor and Rape and sexual assault/harassment. 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. The other primary category selected is - Predatory Proselytisation. 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 other sub-category selected is - Attempting to convert/converting by denigrating Hinduism. In several cases, Hindus are converted or an attempt is made to convert Hindus by denigrating their faith, Hinduism. In such cases, the Hindus associate with the non-Hindu perpetrators often by choice and then, the attempt to convert them by insulting their faith, showing the faith down etc begins. An example of this would be a non-Hindu gathering where the Hindus are attending the gathering of their own free will. However, once they attend the gathering, there is an explicit attempt to convert them by abusing their faith and hailing the faith of the perpetrator. The denigration of the Hindu faith is often based on misrepresentation of the Hindu faith, its doctrine and scriptures and insult to espoused traditions if not blatant lies about Hindu beliefs and ways. Such conversions or attempts at conversions are driven by animosity towards the Hindu faith and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. In this case, a minor Hindu girl was coerced into abandoning her religious identity with the intent of nikah. The perpetrator, Zubair, after sexually assaulting her, began pressuring her to convert to Islam and adopt Muslim practices. The mosque’s hafiz, Arif, also forced her not to go to temples or perform Hindu worship, and instead to recite the Kalma. He gave her a Muslim name and promised that she would be married to Zubair once she learned Islamic customs. These actions constitute a sustained attempt to forcibly convert a Hindu victim before marriage, through both religious indoctrination and psychological pressure, thereby erasing her original religious identity. The actions of the perpetrators go beyond mere criminal behaviour; it is a calculated and malicious attack on her religious identity. The victim was repeatedly blackmailed into silence and submission with threats of leaking her intimate photos and videos. Shoaib, the brother of the main accused, joined in the abuse after witnessing her in a vulnerable state and used the threat of public humiliation to coerce her into a continued relationship. This blackmail was not for personal gain alone but tied directly to the demand that she abandon her Hindu identity and convert to Islam. This use of assault and psychological pressure illustrates religious hostility and constitutes a hate crime driven by animosity toward her Hindu identity. The specific use of blackmail and threats for religious conversion—while targeting her because she was Hindu—constitutes a religiously motivated hate crime. It is important to note here that the victim was a minor at the time of the initial incident, 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. The victim faced continuous harassment aimed at coercing her into accepting Islam. She was forbidden from visiting temples or practising her faith, threatened with the release of compromising material, and mentally coerced into accepting a new name and religion. The coercion wasn’t incidental—it was rooted in hostility toward her Hindu beliefs. The attempt to convert the victim was accompanied by the denigration of her Hindu beliefs. She was told to stop going to temples and to refrain from worshipping in the Hindu way. Instead, she was told to recite the kalma, adopt Islamic customs, and embrace a new religious name. These actions directly attacked her religious identity. These efforts to denounce her original faith and forcibly assimilate her into Islam, especially when she was a vulnerable minor, constitute conversion attempts by insulting and denigrating Hinduism. This case reflects a targeted pattern of abuse wherein a Hindu minor girl was exploited not just sexually but also religiously, with the clear intent to erase her identity and convert her against her will. The presence of grooming, blackmail, threats, coercion and denigration of her faith affirms that the crime was driven by hatred towards her Hindu identity, meeting the threshold of a religiously motivated hate crime. Disclaimer: Media reports state that the victim’s ordeal began when she met the accused in 2022, though no exact date or month is provided. To document this case, we have used an indicative date—January 1, 2022—as a placeholder to represent the beginning of her suffering. While media coverage of the incident emerged on June 18, 2025, the Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began, not when it was reported.
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
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
