Hindu villagers lured to attend Christian prayer meetings and forcefully converted in Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh
Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh, India 
4 April, 2026
Case Summary
In Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh, Hindus were targeted for religious conversion during a Christian prayer meeting held in the Sandi area, where seven persons were taken into police custody following information received from Bajrang Dal workers. The matter came to light on 5 April 2026, when Bajrang Dal block coordinator Vaibhav Shukla, a resident of the town's Munshiganj locality, filed a complaint with the police. The complaint stated that a Christian prayer gathering was being held in the village of Sakheda, hamlet Bhaupurwa, within the Sandi police station area. It further stated that the Christian prayer meeting was underway at the residence of the main accused, Lal Singh alias Lallu, where people had been gathered for religious preaching and conversion-related activities. Upon receiving the information, the police team reached the spot and found a prayer meeting in progress inside the accused's house. Upon investigation, it was found that prayers were being conducted, and religious material was present at the scene. The police also recovered items, including a chunari, candles, and prasad, from the premises. According to the report, religious preachings were being carried out during the meeting, and claims of “miracles” were also being made before those assembled. When an attempt was made to record the proceedings on a mobile phone, the accused tried to snatch the device. Following this, the police detained seven persons from the spot, including the main accused Lal Singh alias Lallu, along with Ram Sajeevan, his wife Maika Devi from Kannauj, Rekha, her son Sarvjeet, nephew Shri Krishna, and Sonu from the Harpalpur area. The police further stated that this was not the first such incident linked to the accused. A similar action had earlier been taken in September 2025 in connection with the same matter, although on that occasion the main accused had managed to flee from the scene. Based on the incident, the police registered a case against all the detained persons and initiated further legal proceedings. At the time of writing this report, an investigation into the prayer meeting, the nature of the religious preaching, and the role of each accused.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category for this case is "Predatory Proselytisation". The sub-category here is "Conversion/attempt 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. Another sub-category here is "Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation and subtle indoctrination". The tertiary category selected under it 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 the 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 proselytisation, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. This case was added to the tracker because it reflected a targeted attempt to influence Hindus towards religious conversion through organised Christian prayer meetings in a community setting. Firstly, what required attention was the method employed. Conversion attempts in such cases were rarely direct at the outset. Rather, they were often introduced through seemingly benign religious gatherings that offered emotional comfort, collective prayer, or spiritual reassurance. The purpose was to create familiarity and trust before gradually introducing teachings that encouraged the abandonment of the victim’s existing faith. This indirect route was significant because it obscured the real objective and reduced the likelihood of informed consent. Secondly, the use of faith-healing narratives and miracle-based persuasion was central to the coercive character of such incidents. When religious superiority was projected through claims of divine cures, blessings, or extraordinary intervention, vulnerable individuals could be induced into believing that relief was conditional upon embracing a different religion. This form of influence was especially concerning because it preyed upon fear, desperation, and hope rather than reasoned personal choice. The pressure here was psychological, not always physical, but it was coercive nonetheless. Thirdly, when the focus of such outreach was predominantly on Hindu villagers, the religious dimension became unmistakable. The conduct was not neutral preaching in a general public space; it was directed at members of a specific faith community to weaken their existing religious identity. The attempt was therefore not merely an evangelical expression but a direct intrusion into the dignity and continuity of Hindu belief systems. Moreover, claims of supernatural healing or divine intervention were frequently used as instruments of persuasion. When such claims were directed at Hindu villagers in a collective setting, they functioned as inducements by presenting Christianity as possessing exclusive power to cure, bless, or transform lives. This was not merely a spiritual expression; it was a deliberate strategy to create religious doubt in the minds of Hindu victims and position their own faith as inadequate. Such conduct directly undermined Hindu religious identity and dignity. Further, the recurrence of similar conduct linked to the same individuals indicated that this was not an isolated episode. Repetition pointed to an organised pattern and sustained intent. Where conduct was repeated over time, it strengthened the inference that the objective was systematic religious conversion rather than spontaneous worship or private devotion. Hinduphobia Tracker had recorded various such incidents where missionary-style structures used emotional vulnerability, dependency, and selective targeting to facilitate religious change among Hindus. The cumulative effect was not only upon the individual victim but also upon the wider sense of security within the local Hindu community, which began to perceive its faith and social fabric as being under organised pressure. For example, in Budaun, Uttar Pradesh, on 4 April 2026, Hindus, including children, were targeted for forced Christian conversion under the pretext of attending a prayer meeting and religious feast. During the event, a Christian pastor made abusive remarks against Hindu deities. In another instance in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, a Christian resident, along with other Christian missionaries, was caught holding illegal prayer meetings to convert 70–80 Hindu men and women on 4 January 2026. Further, in Fatahwa Tola of Brahmasari village, under the jurisdiction of Belaghat Police Station in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, Hindu women were targeted for forced religious conversion by two Christians on 4 December 2025. The accused lured Hindu women under the pretext of attending a prayer meeting and indoctrinated them with Christian theology and texts with the intention of converting them. These instances of targeted proselytisation activities stemmed from inherent hostility towards the victims’ professed faith since Abrahamic faiths held that any non-adherent to their faith was subject to being dehumanised till they converted, making it a religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus. Therefore, this case was added to the Hate Crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 5 to 10
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
