Minor Dalit Hindu boy abducted and forcibly converted to Islam by Muslims in Pakistan
Mirpur Khas, Sindh, Pakistan 
29 June, 2025
Case Summary
In Jaam Laghari, near Mirpur Khas in Sindh, Pakistan, a 15-year-old Hindu boy named Sooraj Meghwar was lured away and forcibly converted to Islam by two local Muslims. Shiva Kachhi, a prominent Pakistani Hindu activist and Chairman of the minority rights organisation Ittehad, shared Sooraj’s story on his X (formerly Twitter) account. He explained that Sooraj was taken away by two Muslim men on a motorcycle and subsequently went missing for two days. After this period, the victim’s parents received news that Sooraj had been forcibly converted to Islam near Sarhindi Pir, close to Samaro district in Umerkot. According to the parents, their son did not return home even after his religious conversion. Despite their efforts to search for him, they were unable to locate him. The parents stated that their son had been pressured and brainwashed into converting to Islam. The parents of the victim approached the central office of the Pakistan Dravidian Alliance Darawer Itehad Pakistan to seek assistance in recovering their son. The victim’s mother made a heartfelt plea for her son to be returned to her and her family. Shiva Kachhi also requested the Pakistani authorities to look for Sooraj and hand him over to his parents. This case highlights the persecution faced by the Hindu minorities in Pakistan, marked by systemic discrimination, violence, and forced conversions. Hindu women, particularly young girls, are often abducted, forcibly converted to Islam, and married off to Muslim men with little to no legal recourse. Temples are frequently vandalised or destroyed, and Hindu communities are subjected to social and economic marginalisation. Blasphemy laws are disproportionately used against Hindus, leading to false accusations and severe punishments. Many Hindu families are forced to flee their homes due to religious intolerance, living in constant fear of attacks. This sustained persecution highlights the dire conditions for Hindus in Pakistan, where their religious identity makes them targets of oppression.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category under which this case has been placed is- Predatory proselytisation, and within this, the first sub-category selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected within this is- 'Family claims grooming' and 'Conversion of minor'. 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 selected 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 has been added under the category of a hate crime since the abduction and forced conversion of a minor Hindu boy starkly illustrates the exploitation of vulnerable Hindu minorities through coercion and manipulation. Such incidents are not isolated cases; rather, they are part of a persistent and troubling pattern in Pakistan, where Hindu minorities, particularly Hindu children, are frequently targeted for forced religious conversions. This ongoing trend showcases the systemic discrimination and violence faced by the Hindu community in Pakistan. Hindus have been subjected to various forms of harassment, marginalisation, and abuse since the country’s inception. The fact that the victim in this case is a minor is critical, as it negates any genuine element of consent or voluntary change of faith from the outset. Children, due to their ongoing emotional and cognitive development, are especially susceptible to manipulation and indoctrination, making them easy targets for those seeking to exploit religious or social vulnerabilities. When such acts are perpetrated against minors of a specific faith, using abduction and coercion tactics, then they are clear instances of hate crimes and clear violations of both human rights and child protection norms. In this case, the victim’s parents have made it clear that their son was forced and brainwashed into changing his religion, highlighting that the conversion was driven by hostility towards his Hindu faith. Any use of coercion or psychological manipulation to pressure a Hindu individual into abandoning their beliefs exposes the deeply troubling nature of such Islamic conversions in Pakistan. For many, these conversions are not a matter of personal choice, but a compulsion, an act carried out under duress to avoid religious persecution by the Muslim majority. This case is not merely a personal tragedy, but a glaring example of a crime rooted in religious intolerance and animosity. This case highlights the broader crisis of forced conversions and systemic persecution faced by Hindu minorities in Pakistan. As the motive behind the crime was rooted in religious animosity and hatred, it has been categorised as a hate crime and included in the Hinduphobia Tracker.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 0
- 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
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
