A disturbing case of attempted forced conversion of Hindu girls has been reported from Lachhi Kheda village which falls under the Mauranwan police station jurisdiction in the ​​Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh. The mother of the victims has lodged a police complaint stating that Islamist men in the area are targeting her three daughters who study in Rajwada School.

The girls are students of classes 11, 8, and 6. They have been living in Lachhi Kheda for almost four years, and local youth named Zeeshan, Guddu, Ateeq, Raja, and 4-6 other boys from their community have been harassing these girls all along. The police complaint filed on Thursday, September 15, states that when the minor girl returned from tuition, obscene hooting was done targeting her. On complaining, the accused became adamant about assaulting her. The victim has also revealed that they were barred from meeting the district’s Superintendent of Police (SP) and the District Magistrate (DM). 

Through a video, the minor alleges that she has received threat-filled messages from various numbers. She further reveals that the accused threatened her to live as they say and that she will not be allowed to live as per her free will.

Apart from making these threatening calls, the accused youths regularly blocked the way of these Hindu minors. They pressurized them to wear Muslim clothes, stop going to school and go to the madrassa to study. The accused also told the girls they would kidnap them if they didn’t conform to their demands. 

The victim’s guardians also remark the accused individuals have sent obscene messages to his daughters’ mobile phones. They had also threatened to frame the victims in false cases. Through the complaint, they have requested the police to take stringent action against the accused. While speaking to the media, the Hindu family has highlighted that their village has a Muslim majority, with around 60% Muslim and 40% Hindu.

The Police have registered the case under IPC section 354 (c), 506, and section 67 of the IT Act. The FIR has charged Zeeshan, Raja, Atiq, and four others. The Police have already arrested 6 in this case. The victim’s parents shared that they received many threat calls after the accused individuals were arrested. The father said that one such call came from Hyderabad in an attempt to rescue one of the accused, Kaif. He also adds that the police have stationed security personnel in front of their house. 

This unfortunate incident resembles the case of two sisters in Jharkhand who were pressurized by local Islamists to convert to Islam. The news came to the limelight in August when Hindu organizations in Barkagaon, Jharkhand, organized a hunger strike against the repeated attempts of forced conversion of Suman Kumari and her minor sister. Notably, Bajrang dal and VHP had also threatened to sit on a hunger strike if the authorities did not ban the accused.

Suman’s mother Kiran Devi recounted that on August 10, village chief Wasim arrived at their house with his son and others and forcibly took her daughters away. They had also hurled profanities at the girls, forced them to do sit-ups, assaulted them, and forced them to convert to Islam. The accused then threatened the girls with dire consequences if they refused.

“The next morning, I met Sadar Mohammad Halil, Secretary Professor Farzuddin, and Panchayat Samiti member Shabnam Parveen’s husband Mohammad Irfan along with other people from the community to file a complaint in the matter. When the accused got information about the meeting, they again visited my house in the night and beat up my daughters,” narrated Kiran Devi.

Hindu organizations accuse the local Police of not taking concrete actions in the matter. “We are raiding the locations linked to the accused to find the rest of them. I appeal to everyone to have faith in the justice system. The culprits will be punished,” said station in-charge Vinod Kumar defending the police department.