Hindu Dalits, including children, lured with inducements and indoctrinated to convert to Christianity

Case ID : 152df0d | Location : Ambedkar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 24 December, 2022

Case ID : 152df0d

Ambedkar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, India

24 December, 2022

Hindu Dalits, including children, lured with inducements and indoctrinated to convert to Christianity

Predatory Proselytisation

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Conversion of minor

Pattern of targeting Hindus

Case Summary

In Ambedkar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, Hindu Dalits, including children, were lured to convert to Christianity by two Christians named Jose (Josh) Pappachan and Sheeja Pappachan. The accused enticed the Hindus with inducements and indoctrinated them with the teachings of Christianity to persuade them to convert. According to media reports, a complaint against both accused was filed by a Hindu woman named Chandrika Prasad, a BJP leader and Dalit rights activist. She stated that the Christian couple were active in the Dalit settlement of Shahpur and were attempting to convert poor Dalits to Christianity. On 25th December 2022, both accused gathered a large number of Dalits to lure them and convert them to Christianity. Chandrika Prasad filed a police complaint, and they were charged under Section 3/5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, and Section 3(1) of the SC/ST Act. However, the accused requested a trial. Chandrika Prasad stated, “The incident took place on 30th January 2023 at about 1:00 pm. I was informed by Lavkush and another person, whose name I do not recall, from Gram Sabha Shahpur Firozpur Dalit Basti, that in my village, two persons named Jose Pappachan and a woman, Sheeja, were converting members of the Dalit community by luring them in several ways. This caused a great deal of anger among the villagers. I immediately informed the Station House Officer (SHO) of Kotwali Jalalpur Police Station by phone. He went to the location and arrested the accused on the spot.” The police filed charge sheets based on eyewitness accounts, which led to a conviction of both accused. On 22nd January 2025, Special Judge Ram Vilas Singh in Ambedkar Nagar awarded the Christian couple five years in prison along with a fine of ₹25,000 each. During court hearings, multiple Dalit Hindu victims' testimonies and statements were presented to prove the charges, along with incriminating evidence, including Bibles, one large book, four diary books, two small diaries and four calendars with a picture of Jesus Christ. After listening to all the victims and examining the evidence, the judge stated, “I have carefully reviewed all the material in the file and listened to the arguments made by the state’s Special Public Prosecutor and the accused’s counsel in this case. The prosecution proved that the accused were unlawfully converting members of the Scheduled Castes in the village of Shahpur Firoz, under Jalalpur Police Station, in Ambedkar Nagar district. The police documents in the file and the prosecution’s examination of the testimony confirm the incident, and the accused committed a very serious crime. Therefore, the accused should be convicted.” In court, one of the Hindu victims, Lavkush, stated, “I am illiterate. It was about six months ago. The time was around one o’clock in the afternoon. Jose Pappachan and Sheeja used to visit my neighbour Viphala’s house once a week. I also used to go there. The accused made villagers sit through Bible teachings when they visited Viphala’s home two or three times. They said they were from Madhya Pradesh. They gathered residents of the hamlet and spoke about teaching children to read and write. They presented Viphala Devi with Bible books in front of me. They offered me church books and invited me to a church in Manguradila. Whenever the accused called, my community would gather to listen to Bible lessons and hear them spread the gospel.” Lavkush further revealed that on 25th December, the accused and their supporters offered food and sweets to villagers and cut a cake in commemoration of Jesus Christ’s birthday. The Hindu victim, Viphala, stated, “The accused Jose Pappachan and Sheeja, who are residents of Madhya Pradesh, came to my house and taught me and other villagers not to drink alcohol and not to fight. They gave me Bible books to read at Manguradila Church. I used to call my neighbours and gather them at my house. Many villagers came, and I taught them from the Bible. I told them about Jesus Christ and asked them to follow his path. Five to six days before the incident, on 25th December, we celebrated Jesus Christ’s birthday and cut cakes. They gave cake to me and the villagers and placed a picture of Jesus Christ there. The CO came to my house and recorded my statement.” Her words were acknowledged by the court. Another victim, Manju, stated, “At about one o’clock in the day, the accused Jose Pappachan and Sheeja, who are residents of Madhya Pradesh, came to Viphala Devi’s house in my village to promote Christianity. Viphala used to call me and other villagers to her house. When many people from the village gathered there, the accused would take turns preaching about Jesus Christ and instructing us to worship him and follow his faith.” Manju further stated that village children attended prayer meetings at Viphala’s house and that the accused told them to live together in harmony, learn to read and write, and offered them free notebooks, books and pens. Jose and Sheeja also gave her a Bible and told her to give it to a literate person in her family or village so they could read it to her. They had also given several books to Viphala in her presence. She confirmed that they made villagers sit and listen to the Bible and that they celebrated 25th December in the village. Another Hindu victim, Suramani, stated, “I am not educated, and there are many like me in my village. The accused used to come to my village, speak to the children and visit Viphala’s house regularly. The people in my village also went there. They told us about Jesus Christ and taught Bible lessons. They organised a bhandaara (free food distribution) in my village and told me that Jesus Christ is God. They had given Bible books about Jesus Christ to Viphala. The CO had recorded my statement.” A Hindu victim named Anjani mentioned, “I am not educated. I put my thumb impression. This incident took place about a year and ten days ago. I started visiting my neighbour Viphala’s house one month before the incident. The accused came to my village and summoned many people to Viphala’s house. They preached Bible lessons and gave Bible books to me, Viphala, Roshni, Malti Devi, Deera and others to read. They also taught our children. They told us, including the children, about Jesus Christ and asked us to worship him.” She added, “They said he was our God and urged us to follow him. The accused also gave me Bible books and money. They had been coming to my village for about five months before the incident, and tried to persuade us to join Christianity by offering money. They coaxed my children and me. They gave me a Jesus Christ calendar, arranged a feast on his birthday, and fed the villagers.” Another victim from the SC community, Roshni, stated that the accused conducted Bible lessons in her village. All the villagers used to go there and were urged to convert to Christianity in exchange for benefits. “The accused taught the Bible at Viphala’s house and celebrated Jesus Christ’s birthday in our village, serving food to the residents. They gave me a Jesus Christ photo calendar, which I handed to the Jabalpur Police Station Inspector when he came to the site,” she said. Another victim, Bhagmani alias Munni, also an uneducated member of the SC community, stated, “It has been almost one and a half years since the incident. The accused Jose and Sheeja used to visit their house. They held prayer meetings to worship Jesus Christ, taught us from the Bible, and gave us diaries to study. The police took them from Viphala’s house. I was also given a calendar by the accused, which I gave to the police. The CO recorded my statement.” Sub-Inspector Rampal Saroj stated, “On 24th January 2023, I, along with Constable Lalit Kumar Saroj and Head Constable Mohd. Rais left Jalalpur Police Station and went to the scene of the incident at Shahpur, Ferozepur, in connection with the case.” He also found several books, texts, diaries and calendars related to Christianity from the scene. He documented his findings, and all the seized material was taken into police possession and sealed in the presence of witnesses.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Conversion/attempts to convert by inducements. Predatory Proselytisation is not just limited to threat, harassment, force and violence, but it also has contours of stealth. In several cases, the Hindu victim is exploited to convert, with non-Hindus taking advantage of their poverty. In such cases, the Hindu victim who is suffering financially is offered monetary benefits, including lucrative offers for jobs, health treatment, education, etc, to induce the victim into changing his/her religion. In such cases, the religious identity of the victim and the aim to disenfranchise him from his faith form the heart of the crime. Also, taking advantage of and exploiting an individual’s economic vulnerabilities is widely acknowledged as exploitation, forms of which are often penalised by law. Such cases therefore are considered religiously motivated hate crimes since the victim’s religious identity forms the very heart of the crime itself. The other subcategory selected in this case is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected in this case is- 'Conversion of Minor' and 'Pattern of targeting Hindus'. 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. In this case, several Dalit Hindus, including children, were lured with incentives and were indoctrinated to convert to Christianity by the Christian evangelists. Even Christian religious literature, texts and other materials were used to brainwash the Hindu victims into conversion. The nature of the conversion efforts and the wider impact on the Hindu community all indicate a targeted action against Hindus as a collectivity. When individuals or groups focus their efforts on converting members of a particular religion, in this case, Hindus, then it demonstrates a fundamental disregard for the Hindu faith. Conversion, especially when not based on personal conviction but rather on external persuasion or pressure, is not simply about sharing a different belief system. It is an attempt to undermine the values, traditions, and identity of the Hindu community. In this context, the Christian perpetrators specifically targeted Hindus, which suggests a lack of respect for Hinduism and its followers. Such actions are carried out to strip Hindu victims of their faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. The use of inducements to encourage Christian conversion clearly demonstrates that these actions were not motivated by kindness or charity. Instead, they were calculated attempts to exploit vulnerable Hindus specifically because of their religion. By providing inducements to Hindus to change their faith, the Christian perpetrators were effectively emotionally blackmailing those vulnerable Hindus who might have been desperate for assistance. Such instances are seen in many cases where members of Christian missionary groups target socially and economically vulnerable Hindus to further their agenda of religious conversions. This form of coercion strips Hindus of their agency and dignity and enforces forced conversions. These are not random or isolated incidents, but rather are premeditated efforts to undermine the Hindu faith, persuade Hindus to discard their own faith, and convert to Christianity. Such acts are deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims and their faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. The Christian perpetrators were also actively attempting to indoctrinate the Hindus by using Christian religious texts, literature and other materials. Using the scriptures or literature of one faith to deliberately target and manipulate members of another, with the clear intention of religious conversion, represents a direct attack on the Hindu faith. Even the Hindu victims were actively persuaded to pray to Jesus. They were told "Jesus is God". Such actions are designed to violate and undermine the beliefs of Hindu victims and are clear indicators of religious hostility towards Hindus and their identity. Such actions further demonstrate that this was not an isolated incident of evangelism, but rather part of a broader, organised operation to further religious conversions. Such acts are done to exploit trust, sow doubt, and misrepresent the beliefs of Hindus to coerce conversion, particularly in a systematic manner, it constitute a religiously motivated offence. It's also important to note that the victims also include Hindu children. This means the element of consent and genuine change of conscience is missing ab initio. Minors, due to their young age and lack of maturity, are particularly vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. They may not have the ability to fully understand the implications of converting to another religion, and the Christian perpetrators purposely targeted and exploited this vulnerability of the minor victims. Since this case exemplifies the use of coercion and manipulation to achieve religious conversion, it is a blatant act of a religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus. Reports stated that the Christian perpetrators had converted a large number of Hindus to Christianity. The accused were converting people for a long time. This persistent pattern of targeting Hindus, luring them with incentives and subjecting them to psychological manipulation and indoctrination by use of Christian texts served as a stark example of a religiously motivated crime. Such actions are aimed at undermining the religious and cultural identity of Hindus through coercion, manipulation, and unlawful means. Such incidents highlighted that the conversions were neither isolated nor accidental but formed part of a calculated and targeted strategy to convert Hindus to Christianity. By focusing specifically on Hindus, these Christian evangelists were profiling vulnerable individuals and working systematically to erase their Hindu identity. The repeated nature of these actions revealed a deliberate intent to disrupt the cultural fabric and faith of the community, leaving the victims exposed to ongoing pressure and exploitation. These instances of targeted proselytisation activities stem from inherent hostility towards the victims' professed faith since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent to their faith is subject to being dehumanised till they convert, making it a religiously motivated crime against Hindus. Therefore, this case is being added to the hate crime database. Disclaimer: Media reports do not specify the exact date when the victims’ ordeal began. However, the earliest date mentioned is 25th December 2022, when the accused carried out large-scale conversions of Dalit Hindus. For documentation purposes, we are using this date as an indicative date of the incident. Hinduphobia Tracker records the date when the victims’ ordeal began rather than the date it was reported. Furthermore, the reports state that multiple Hindus were converted, but the exact number was not disclosed. As the reports mention seven named victims, we are recording the victim count as “7”. This is a conservative estimate and has been noted for documentation purposes.