Hostel operator arrested for forcing to convert children to Christianity
Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India 
16 October, 2024
Case Summary
In Manpur, a hostel operator was arrested and sent to jail after being accused of pressuring children to convert religions. The incident unfolded in Khurda village, where children from Mahatma Gandhi High Secondary School were staying in the nearby Sahayika Hostel. During Navratri, seven children returned home for vacation. When they came back with their parents, they refused to stay in the hostel, citing troubling experiences. The children disclosed that the hostel operator, Sudhir, son of Wilson Jangad, had been taking them to a nearby church and threatening them to convert. Concerned, two parents, Ashok Goswami and Rahul Vishwakarma, reported the matter to Manpur police station’s in-charge, Ravi Pareek. Following an investigation, police verified the claims, finding evidence to support the accusations. Sudhir was subsequently charged under sections related to religious conversion and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act. Authorities revealed that the hostel, operating under the name of Sudhir’s wife, Anita, lacked official permission.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This particular case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under two subcategories of the prime category- Predatory Proselytisation, because of the various distinct components that demonstrate the perpetrator's bias against the Hindu faith and his deliberate attempt to alienate the minor victims from his Hindu identity. The first sub-category chosen here is- Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion. Harassment covers a wide range of behaviours of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, including threats and coercion. Harassment and threats, in this case, find their root on discriminatory grounds which has the effect of nullifying a person’s rights or infringing upon his freedom to exercise his right specifically owing to the victim’s religious identity. Verbal and physical threats and psychological or physical harassment are often used against Hindu victims because they choose to practice their professed religion. Religious harassment also includes forced and involuntary conversions by harassment, threats or coercion. Coercion includes intimidatory tactics like force-feeding a Hindu victim beef to convert to another religion, forceful circumcision etc. In several cases documented, non-Hindu perpetrators or those who harbour specific animosity towards Hinduism, harass victims simply based on their religious identity. Such cases often also include harassment to ensure the Hindu victim abandons his/her professed religion and adopts the religion of the perpetrator. In this subcategory, we would only include cases where the victim was harassed, threatened or coerced to convert. Cases where attempts were made to convert but the victim resisted would be documented in another sub-category. Such cases where Hindu victims are harassed to convert to the perpetrator’s religion are rooted in animosity towards the victim’s religious identity and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. The second sub-category chosen is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, under which three tertiary categories, namely, 'Conversion of minor', 'Rape and sexual assault/harassment' and 'Family claims grooming of minor' have been selected as per the case details. 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, a hostel operator was arrested for pressuring children to convert to Islam. He reportedly took the children to the church where they were forced to convert to Christianity. The children also accused the evangelist of indulging in an inappropriate manner in order to coerce them into conversion. The underlying motivation of predatory proselytisation itself is animosity towards the professed faith of the victim and in this case, there was harassment involved in the pressure exerted to forcefully convert the minor children. It is also important to note here, that since the victims here were minors, it indicates a lack of consent and a genuine change of conscience. It is a well-established fact that children are more susceptible to manipulation since they are still developing emotionally, cognitively, and socially. Their brains are not fully matured, making them more vulnerable to influence and less capable of critically evaluating information. Moreover, subtle manipulation tactics can be difficult to detect, especially when employed by trusted authority figures in positions of influence, like the hostel operator in this instance. This makes it challenging for parents, to identify and address instances of religious manipulation. Consequently, cases involving religious manipulation of minors not only represent an infringement on an individual's religious freedom but also demonstrate a calculated strategy of targeting those who are less able to resist or understand the long-term implications of conversion, making it a significant case of religious-motivated hate crime. For this reason, this case has been added to the tracker. Disclaimer: The details of the case suggest that attempts were made to convert many Hindu children to Christianity. However, since there is an explicit mention of seven children, who were coerced into conversion, we have conservatively recorded the victim count as 7 in the database for accuracy and consistency.
Victim Details
Total Victim
7
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 7
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 7
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 7
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
