Pastor converts women and children to Christianity by brainwashing; arrested
Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India 
3 August, 2024
Case Summary
In Bareilly, UP, a pastor named Ishwari Prasad was arrested for converting women and children by brainwashing them. The incident came to light after Hindu Jagran Manch, Bajrang Dal, and other organizations received information about a conversion operation disguised as a prayer meeting in Baheri's Mohalla Singh Gauntia New Basti. Upon reaching the location with the police, they found over 12 women and children gathered. A large amount of Christian literature was recovered from the scene. During interrogation, the women and children revealed that Ishwari Prasad had been teaching them Christianity and providing them with religious materials. He was also comparing Christian scriptures with Hindu texts to convince them of Christianity's superiority, even attempting to lure them into conversion. The police arrested Ishwari Prasad and filed a report under sections of illegal religious conversion based on a complaint by Netrapal, a member of the Hindu organizations. Locals mentioned that Ishwari Prasad held these gatherings every Sunday, which the police were aware of but had previously ignored.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This particular case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under the prime category 'Predatory Proselytisation' and the first sub-category selected here is- Proselytisation by brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. 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. The second sub-category selected here is- Attempting to convert/converting by denigrating Hinduism- In several cases, Hindus are converted or an attempt is made to convert Hindus by denigrating their faith, Hinduism. In such cases, the Hindus associate with the non-Hindu perpetrators often by choice and then, the attempt to convert them by insulting their faith, showing the faith down etc begins. An example of this would be a non-Hindu gathering where the Hindus are attending the gathering of their own free will. However, once they attend the gathering, there is an explicit attempt to convert them by abusing their faith and hailing the faith of the perpetrator. The denigration of the Hindu faith is often based on misrepresentation of the Hindu faith, its doctrine and scriptures and insult to espoused traditions if not blatant lies about Hindu beliefs and ways. Such conversions or attempts at conversions are driven by animosity towards the Hindu faith and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. Here, the pastor attempted to convert Hindu women and children by comparing Christian scriptures with Hindu texts to convince them of Christianity's superiority and also by luring them into conversion. The pastor's actions aimed to undermine the religious beliefs of the targeted individuals by portraying their faith as inferior. By comparing Christian scriptures with Hindu texts and emphasizing Christianity's superiority, the pastor not only disrespected Hinduism but also attempted to erode the religious identity of the women and children involved. This is an intentional act of religious discrimination, aimed at diminishing the value of another faith. Further, it is evident from the details that the Hindu victims here included children, which essentially means that the element of consent and genuine change of conscience was missing ab initio. Since the underlying offence in this case was against children of a specific faith and involved subtle tactics of indoctrination, which obviously stems from a bias against the Hindu faith, this case is a clear case of religious hate. The pastor was also attempting to convert them by offering inducement of money, which clearly means that the pastor attempted to lure them into conversion by violating their religious freedom and exploiting their vulnerabilities to impose a different religious identity on them. Since exploiting vulnerabilities for the explicit purpose of conversion is purely based on animosity towards the victim's faith, this case has been categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime. Disclaimer: The details of this case reveal that many women and children were brainwashed into converting to Christianity by the accused. However, since it is explicitly mentioned that police found 12 women and children gathered at the location where the conversion activity was being held, we have conservatively recorded the victim count as 12 in the database for accuracy and consistency.
Victim Details
Total Victim
12
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 12
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 12
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 12
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
