Hindu villagers lured to convert to Christianity under guise of attending prayer meeting in Chhattisgarh
Korba, Chhattisgarh, India 
27 September, 2025
Case Summary
In Kalmibhatha village of Korba district, Chhattisgarh, Hindu villagers were targeted for conversion under the guise of an illegal prayer meeting by Christian missionaries. According to reports, a prayer meeting held secretly inside a house led to significant tensions in the area. Villagers, upon learning of such a prayer meeting, alerted Bajrang Dal activists, a Hindu organisation, who arrived at the scene and protested against the meeting. The Hindu activists stated that the gathering was intended for the forced religious conversion of Hindus to Christianity. The police also reached the location and initiated an investigation, although no formal complaint was filed. Villagers reported that similar gatherings had taken place previously and that complaints had been submitted to the police on multiple occasions. The owner of the house had previously been issued a notice by the police, warning that administrative permission from the Collector was required before holding any religious event. Despite this, the prayer meeting was conducted without approval, prompting action under Section 188 for holding a gathering without permission. The police stated that the matter would be investigated thoroughly and that strict action would be taken against anyone found in violation of the law. Meanwhile, some present at the gathering claimed that it was merely a religious prayer, which was being wrongly portrayed as an attempt at conversion.
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 - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected is- 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. This case constitutes a religiously motivated hate crime, as Hindu residents in Kalmibhatha village under Tilkeja Gram Panchayat in Korba district were targeted for conversion under the guise of a Christian prayer meeting. What was presented as a simple prayer gathering inside a house was in reality a covert attempt at religious conversion. These were not genuine community prayers but calculated efforts to exploit the trust of Hindus and manipulate them into abandoning their faith. The organisers deliberately held the meeting in secrecy and without permission from the administration, indicating a deliberate and deceptive strategy designed to avoid public attention and scrutiny. By conducting such gatherings covertly, the Christian missionaries sought to manipulate vulnerable Hindus, taking advantage of their emotional and social circumstances to push them towards conversion. When evangelists and Christian missionaries focus their efforts on converting individuals of a particular faith, in this instance, Hindus, it reveals a fundamental disregard for that community and its beliefs. Conversion, especially when not based on sincere personal conviction but rather on external persuasion or pressure, is not about sharing a different religion. Instead, it is an attempt to undermine the values, traditions, and identity of the Hindu community. The fact that such meetings had been held previously despite repeated police warnings shows a sustained effort to push conversions in the area, revealing a deeper hostility towards the Hindu faith and practices. The Christian faith, by its very theological foundations, places a strong emphasis on proselytisation. In pursuit of conversion objectives, Christian evangelists often employ deceptive or unethical means to achieve their objectives. By disguising conversion attempts as prayer sessions, the organisers aimed to bypass resistance and draw unsuspecting Hindus into their network. In such cases, Christian missionary groups targeted and attempted to brainwash socially and economically vulnerable Hindus to further their agenda of religious conversions. These were not random or isolated incidents, but rather premeditated efforts to undermine the Hindu faith, persuade Hindus to discard their own religion, and convert to Christianity. Such acts are deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims and their faith. Therefore, this case has been added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when the victim’s ordeal began, rather than when it is reported by the media. In this case, while reports mention that similar gatherings had occurred earlier, the specific timeline of conversion activities is unclear. Therefore, for documentation purposes, the date of the incident has been recorded as the date when it was reported in the media- 28th September 2025.
Case Status
Complaint not filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
