On June 21, a transgender (eunuch) accused another transgender of forced conversion. A complaint has been filed at Georgetown Police Station in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. The victim, identified as Pankaj Kumar, reached the Police Station with a group of eunuchs and sloganeered, demanding justice. The Police are investigating the matter.
A poor woman, who resides in the Allahpur Police Station area, alleged that one of her children is a eunuch. She stated that a eunuch from the Shahganj area in Prayagraj enlisted her transgender child as one of her disciples. The woman alleged that a Maulana from Patthar Gali forcefully converted her child into Islam at the behest of other eunuchs. She further alleged that her child was fed objectionable things. He was allegedly physically and mentally tortured, she added. When her child tried to escape, they filed a complaint against him, accusing him of theft. As per the complaint, the victim was beaten up.
Kinnar Welfare Board chief Vaishnavi Nand Giri said in a statement that a complaint had been filed in the matter. She said it was a serious matter and demanded strict action against the accused. She further added that it was wrong to forcefully convert anyone and change their religion against their will.
In the past, too, multiple cases have emerged where Muslim eunuchs were accused of forcefully converting their Hindu counterparts. In March 2022, IBN24 reported that Muslim eunuchs were allegedly forcing Hindu eunuchs to convert to Islam if they wanted to stay within the community.
Prevalence of forcible conversions into Islam
Cases of forced conversions into Islam have been prevalent across the country, wherein the victims are intimidated, threatened with life or blackmailed into renouncing their faith and embracing Islam. In Uttar Pradesh, too, the cases of forced conversions into Islam have risen sharply, with the UP ATS having busted a big religious conversion racket last year.
In 2021, the Uttar Pradesh ATS arrested two men identified as Umar Gautam and Mufti Qazi Jehangir involved in illegal religious conversions. According to police, women, and physically challenged children were their targets. The duo was arrested in the Jamia Nagar area in Delhi.
Prashant Kumar, Uttar Pradesh ADG (Law and Order), had said that the arrested men were running a conversion racket that was being funded by Pakistan’s spy agency ISI.
Umar Gautam who is a convert himself revealed that they converted around 250-300 people every year. During the interrogation, Umar also informed that they targeted people from the economically weaker section of the society including women, children and the disabled. They were also getting the women married so that they do not return to their original faith.
