Minor Dalit Hindu girl lured away through monetary inducement, then forced to convert to Islam and prepped for jihad
Prayagraj (Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh, India 
7 May, 2025
Case Summary
In Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, a 15-year-old Dalit Hindu girl was lured away to Kerala through monetary inducements by two Muslim men and a woman. The girl was then forced to convert to Islam and was also subjected to molestation by the Muslim man. She was also forced to get recruited for terrorist operations. Reports identified the perpetrators as Darkasha Bano, Taj Mohammad, and Mohammad Kaif. They enticed the girl with money and took her to Thrissur in Kerala, where she was forced to convert to Islam and become a terrorist. Guddi Devi, the girl's mother and a resident of Lilhat village, approached the Phulpur police on 28th June 2025 and filed a complaint against Bano and Kaif. She stated that on 8th May 2025, Darkasha Bano lured her daughter away with the promise of money and took her to Kerala, where she was forced to convert and become a terrorist. Guddi Devi also stated that she has been threatened by the Muslim perpetrators since she filed the police complaint. Following this, the police provided security to Guddi Devi and her family. The victim was taken to Thrissur, from where she somehow managed to escape and reach the local police station. She shared her ordeal with the local police in Thrissur, Kerala. Thereafter, the police contacted her family in Prayagraj. The girl was handed over to the child welfare committee in Thrissur, and with the help of the Phulpur police, she was brought back to Prayagraj. Police investigations revealed that Mohammad Kaif dropped the victim and Bano at the Prayagraj Railway Junction. Bano took the girl by train from Prayagraj Junction to Delhi, and from there they boarded another train to Kerala. The police also said that Mohammad Kaif attempted to molest the girl at the Prayagraj station. After returning from Kerala, the victim's family submitted their application to the police, and a case was registered under appropriate sections of the BNS. The police arrested the two Muslim accused, Bano and Kaif. They also began a search to apprehend the third accused, Taj Mohammad. The Deputy Commissioner of Police stated that Bano was part of an organised racket who were converting Hindu girls to Islam, and police formed teams to dismantle such groups. The Prayagraj and Kerala police began working together to carry out a more extensive probe against this organised Muslim gang. DCP Gunawat stated, “A thorough investigation is being conducted into the activities of Darkasha Bano. Strict action will be taken against others found to be involved. They will investigate this matter thoroughly." The police then launched further investigations into this matter.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducements. Predatory Proselytisation is not just limited to threat, harassment, force and violence, but it also has contours of stealth. In several cases, the Hindu victim is exploited to convert, with non-Hindus taking advantage of their poverty. In such cases, the Hindu victim who is suffering financially is offered monetary benefits, including lucrative offers for jobs, health treatment, education, etc, to induce the victim into changing his/her religion. In such cases, the religious identity of the victim and the aim to disenfranchise him from his faith form the heart of the crime. Also, taking advantage of and exploiting an individual’s economic vulnerabilities is widely acknowledged as exploitation, forms of which are often penalised by law. Such cases therefore are considered religiously motivated hate crimes since the victim’s religious identity forms the very heart of the crime itself. The other subcategory selected is- Harassment, threats, coercion to 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. Another subcategory selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. Within this, the tertiary category selected is- Rape and sexual assault/harassment' 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. In this case, the minor Dalit Hindu girl was lured away by the Muslim perpetrators, Bano, Taj, and Kaif, with money and taken away to Kerala. After which, she was forced to convert to Islam and get recruited to become a terrorist. This was a targeted attack against a Hindu girl specifically because of her faith. When individuals or groups focus their efforts on converting a member of a particular religion, here, a Hindu girl, it demonstrates a fundamental disregard for the victim’s beliefs and identity. Conversion, especially when driven by external pressure or manipulation rather than personal conviction, is not simply about sharing a different belief system. It is an attempt to undermine the values, traditions, and identity of the Hindu victim. In this case, the Muslim perpetrators deliberately targeted a Hindu girl for conversion, showing a clear lack of respect for the victim's faith. Such actions are intended to strip the victim of her faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. It is also crucial to emphasise that the victim was a minor. This means that any notion of consent or genuine change of conscience was absent from the outset. Minors, due to their age and lack of maturity, are especially vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. They may not fully understand the implications of converting to another religion. In this case, the Muslim perpetrators exploited this vulnerability of the Hindu minor to further religious conversion, highlighting the religious motivation behind the crime. The use of monetary incentives in this case to lure her away and convert her demonstrates that the incentives were not an act of kindness, but rather a calculated strategy to force the Hindu victim to convert to Islam. In many such cases, inducements are used as tools to entice vulnerable Hindus who are desperate for economic assistance and pressure them to discard their faith. Even in this instance, the Muslim perpetrators exploited the Hindu girl's vulnerability and forced her to convert to Islam, making it a religiously motivated crime. The girl was lured away with money and taken to Kerala, where she was forcibly converted to Islam. She was isolated from her support system, her family, and pressured to abandon her faith. These actions are clear demonstrations of crimes motivated by religious zeal, as the Muslim perpetrators forced the Hindu victim to adopt Islam. This is not merely a violation of her personal freedom; it is an assault on her Hindu identity. Such instances where force and coercion are used to convert a Hindu individual to another faith are clear examples of a religiously motivated crime. Furthermore, the Hindu girl was also subjected to molestation by the Muslim perpetrator. In this context, the abuse was not only a personal violation but also a means to further subjugate and terrorise the Hindu victim, thereafter, pressuring her to convert to Islam. The police investigations also revealed that the Muslim perpetrators were part of a gang who were involved in luring and forcibly converting the Hindu victim and several other Hindu girls to Islam. The Muslim gang was also involved in recruiting these girls to become terrorists. This showcases a clear pattern of targeting Hindu girls specifically due to their faith, converting them and recruiting them to carry forward the Islamic agenda of Jihad (war against non-Muslims). The selective targeting of Hindu girls for religious conversions and Islamic terrorism glaringly demonstrates the religious motivations behind this crime. Such actions by the Muslim perpetrators are a result of deep-seated animosity towards Hindus and their religion. As this case meets multiple criteria of a religiously motivated crime against a Hindu girl, it is being added to the hate crime database.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 1
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 0
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Case sub-judice
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
