Hindu community targeted by organised inducement conversion attempt in Alirajpur, Muslim accused arrested
Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh, India 
5 December, 2025
Case Summary
Hindu individuals in Nanpur, Alirajpur district, Madhya Pradesh, were targeted through inducements and financial deception in attempts to convert their religion. They were approached with promises and misleading offers that influenced their decisions. The actions were carried out in a structured manner, affecting multiple Hindu victims within the area. In village Ghatwani, under Nanpur police station limits, a Muslim man named Ter Singh Awasia targeted Hindu individuals through inducements and financial schemes. He approached them with promises of benefits and used these to influence them towards religious conversion. The Hindu victims were subjected to financial deception alongside religious pressure. The inducements created dependency and trust, which were then used to encourage them to abandon their Hindu faith. The process involved repeated engagement and persuasion over time. Multiple cases were registered against the Muslim man under provisions relating to cheating, coercion, and unlawful religious conversion. The pattern indicated that more than one Hindu individual was affected through similar methods in the same area. The perpetrator remained at large after the incident and was later traced to Indore. A police team from Nanpur, in coordination with the cyber cell, arrested him. He was taken into custody, and further investigation into the matter was ongoing.
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 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. Another subcategory selected 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. 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. Another subcategory selected is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category under this 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 qualified as a religiously motivated hate crime because Hindu individuals were deliberately targeted through inducements, financial deception, and coercion to influence their religious identity. The perpetrator used manipulation and false promises to pressure Hindu victims into conversion. Religion was central to the offence, as the actions were directed specifically at altering the victims’ faith. The pattern of repeated targeting showed clear intent against Hindus as a group. The perpetrator approached Hindu individuals with inducements and financial incentives. This was religiously significant because the offers were not neutral but aimed at influencing a change in religious belief. The victims were targeted as Hindus, and the inducements were used to weaken their attachment to their faith and draw them towards conversion. The use of inducements to convert individuals is indeed a common tactic in efforts to influence or manipulate vulnerable individuals into changing their faith. This approach often targets economically disadvantaged groups, offering material benefits such as food, money, or livestock in exchange for conversion. It creates a form of dependency that can alienate individuals from their original faith, as they may feel compelled to convert not out of genuine belief but due to immediate needs or financial pressures. Here too, the accused adopted a similar tactic of exploiting the vulnerability of the Hindus to convert them to Islam. Exploiting vulnerabilities for the explicit purpose of conversion is purely based on animosity towards the victim's faith. The victims were targeted because they were Hindu, and their circumstances were exploited to push them towards abandoning their religious identity. The perpetrator engaged in repeated persuasion and manipulation over time. This was religiously significant because it involved sustained efforts to influence belief systems rather than a one-time interaction. The victims were specifically targeted as Hindus, and the continued engagement was used to gradually erode resistance to conversion. The coercive nature of the actions, including pressure and intimidation, demonstrated that the conversion attempts were not voluntary. This was significant because it showed the use of force and fear in matters of religion. The Hindu victims were targeted because of their identity, and their refusal to convert would have exposed them to continued pressure. The involvement of multiple cases and repeated incidents in the same area showed a broader pattern. This was religiously significant because it indicated systematic targeting rather than an isolated act. Hindu individuals as a group were targeted, which amplified the impact on the wider community and created fear. The use of manipulation and structured engagement reflected a method of grooming and subtle indoctrination. This was significant because it showed a deliberate attempt to influence belief through psychological means. The victims were targeted as Hindus, and the manipulation was directed at changing their religious identity. Given that this case met the parameters of a religiously motivated hate crime, it was added to the hate crime database of the tracker.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
