Conversion in illegal Missionary-run children home in Bhopal, 26 girls missing
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India 
3 January, 2024
Case Summary
In Bhopal, a Christian missionary-operated private girls' hostel was found to be running illegally with 26 out of 68 enrolled girls missing. The hostel, managed by Anil Mathew, housed girls aged 6 to 18, mostly Hindus. On January 4, 2024, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights Chairman Priyank Kanungo, along with state officials, raided the hostel in the Parwalia police station area, uncovering numerous irregularities. Kanungo revealed that the hostel, acting as a government child rescue partner, secretly retained rescued children without informing authorities and forced them to practice Christianity. Despite difficulties, the police registered an FIR. The hostel inaugurated in 2020 with aid, was constructed with the help of foreign donors.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
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 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 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.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
N/A
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
