Hindu villagers offered inducements and healing benefits for religious conversion by Christian missionaries
Purnia, Bihar, India 
16 March, 2026
Case Summary
In Dumri village of Rupauli block in Purnia, Bihar, Hindu villagers were offered inducements and healing benefits for religious conversion by a Christian pastor named Jawahar Prasad Chaurasia. According to reports, an attempt at religious conversion was thwarted after Hindu activists from Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad intervened at a gathering organised by Christian missionaries. The event was held on 17 March 2026, at a villager’s residence under the Tika Patti police station area, where preparations such as tents, gates, and banners had been arranged for the healing meeting. Upon receiving information about the gathering, Bajrang Dal workers led by district security head Abhinavraj reached the location and confronted the Christian missionaries conducting the programme, including Pastor Jawahar Prasad Chaurasia. During questioning, the pastor stated that he had come to heal people from diseases; however, when Hindu activists further questioned the pastor, he was unable to answer satisfactorily. Subsequently, the Christian missionaries and the pastor were chased away from the village and warned not to return for such conversion activities. According to Bajrang Dal activists, the gathering had been organised with the intent of persuading local Hindu villagers towards religious conversion through monetary inducements and other incentives, particularly targeting economically weaker sections, including Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The activists informed the local police about the situation, but by the time authorities arrived, the matter had already been resolved at the spot. Several local functionaries from the Rupauli block, including Dheeraj Kumar, Mahavir Kumar, Piyush Kumar, Hrithik Kumar, Rishav Kumar, Golu Kumar, Saavan Kumar, Rakesh Chaudhary, and Bambam Keshari, were present during the intervention. Villagers also supported the activists’ actions, contributing to the disruption of the gathering and expressing opposition to such activities in the area.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Predatory Proselytisation. Within it, the sub-category selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, 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 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. The other sub-category selected is - Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement. 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. This case has been added to the tracker because Hindu residents in a village in Purnia were targeted and approached under the guise of a religious gathering that functioned as a platform for conversion activity by Christian missionaries. Firstly, the gathering that was organised by the Christian missionaries was in the form of a healing meeting / Changai sabha, where the Pastor claimed that he had come to heal people from diseases. The Changai Sabha format, often described publicly as a faith healing gathering, is a well-recognised tool in organised Christian proselytisation networks. These meetings usually employ songs, testimonies and emotionally charged prayer sessions to influence and induce vulnerable individuals without openly declaring the underlying objective. The absence of transparency is itself central to the method. People attend believing they are seeking comfort, healing or spiritual support, only to be gradually drawn into teachings that undermine their own religious identity and introduce them to the Christian framework presented as the only path to relief Secondly, inducements were offered to facilitate religious conversion, indicating a transactional and coercive dimension to the activity. Offering incentives, especially when directed at vulnerable individuals in need, shows that these incentives are not acts of kindness or charity. Instead, they are calculated moves to exploit vulnerable Hindus because of their religion. By providing inducements in exchange for conversion, the accused were effectively blackmailing those who might have been desperate for assistance or hope. 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 people of their agency and dignity and results in coerced conversions. These are not random or isolated incidents, but rather cases deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims. Thirdly, the conversion efforts specifically targeted economically disadvantaged sections within the Hindu community, including the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribe, indicating a pattern of deliberate and selective targeting. When conversion activities are directed at members of a single religious community, it reflects disregard for that community’s faith, traditions, and identity. In this case, Hindus were targeted as a collectivity, and conversion was pursued through external pressure rather than personal conviction. Such actions sought to erode Hindu religious identity and undermine community cohesion, demonstrating a religiously motivated act directed against Hindus. The Christian faith, by its very theological foundations, places a strong emphasis on proselytisation. In pursuit of conversion objectives, Christian evangelists often employ unethical means, ranging from psychological pressure and misinformation to inducements such as money or jobs. This systematic attempt to erode the religious foundation of individuals and replace it with allegiance to another faith reflects deep religious malice and animus against the Hindu identity. Given that the actions in this case involved targeted outreach towards Hindus, the use of inducements to influence religious identity, and the structuring of activities in a manner that concealed their underlying intent, the incident reflects a religiously motivated act directed against a specific community. Because the core motivation of the act stems from hostility toward the victim’s religion, it meets the threshold of a hate crime.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
