Muslim man rapes a minor Hindu girl, kills her with the help of his friends after she refuses to convert

Case Summary
A Muslim youth, identified as Asif, lured a minor Hindu girl from Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh and took her with him. Afterwards, she was raped and pressured to convert to Islam. When she refused to accede to the conversion demands, the accused killed her with the aid of his associates. Her body was then dumped in a forest about 500 kilometres away from Lakhimpur. According to reports, on 25th January, the 17-year-old girl from Goriya village, which is located near the Padhua police station in Lakhimpur Kheri, went missing. Her family members looked everywhere but were unable to locate her. They went to the Padhua police station and filed a report in which they said that she was deceived by a Muslim man. They also named his companions and submitted a case against eleven culprits. Hindu organisations also got involved in the matter. Investigation by the police revealed that she was with a young man named Asif. The cops also discovered CCTV footage of the same incident. His whereabouts were then tracked down by the police. It turned out that he had travelled to Dehradun from Lakhimpur. The police reached there and took him and his accomplices into custody. When questioned, the accused confessed to raping and murdering the minor Hindu girl. According to him, the body was dumped in the forests of Ramnagar afterwards. The police retrieved the body and sent it for post-mortem. Asif, the primary suspect was arrested following an encounter in Lakhimpur. The deceased’s father revealed that she was being forced to embrace Islam by Asif and his friends who ended her life after she refused to comply. Six others including Salman, Raja and Zubair have been nabbed by the police.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Predatory proselytisation. Under this, the first sub-category selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. Further, two tertiary categories have also been chosen, which are- '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. The second sub-category under which this case has been placed, based on the details, is- Murdered for refusing to convert. When there is pressure, threat or coercion employed upon the Hindu victim to convert to a different religion, in several cases, the victim refuses to succumb to the pressure/threats. Once the victim refuses, the perpetrator proceeds to murder the victim owing to his/her refusal to convert. In such cases, the pressure/threat/intimidation/coercion/violence itself is driven by animosity towards the victim’s Hindu faith. The murder then is another hate crime driven by the victim’s refusal to abandon his professed faith, Hinduism, and convert to the religion of the non-Hindu perpetrator. Since the victim’s faith is at the heart of the pressure to convert and the ensuing murder of the victim, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. In this case, the Muslim youth deliberately targeted the Hindu minor girl, luring her away with him. Aware of her young age and emotional vulnerability, he exploited her trust to manipulate her. He then subjected her to sexual abuse and attempted to force her into converting to Islam. When she refused to comply with his demands, he murdered her with the help of his accomplices and abandoned her body in the jungle. Here, the victim's refusal to embrace Islam became the central issue that provoked the Muslim perpetrator's violent reaction. This act is not merely a gruesome crime but an extreme and violent manifestation of religiously motivated hate, deeply rooted in religious intolerance and bigotry. It represents a symbolic attempt to erase her identity as a Hindu woman who courageously resisted forced conversion. Such violent actions are brutal efforts to impose religious conformity, showing a complete disregard for the victim's religious freedom and her right to practice her faith. The use of such extreme violence to enforce religious affinity underscores the perpetrator's profound hatred and intolerance toward the victim's faith and beliefs, which is why this case has been added to the hate tracker. Further, it is important to mention here that since the Hindu victim here was a minor, it indicates a lack of 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 matured, making them more vulnerable to influence and less capable of critically evaluating information. 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. For this reason, this case has been added to the tracker.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
1
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
Case sub-judice

Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 10 to 100
Perpetrators Gender
male