Hindu residents offered inducements for religious conversion, their deities denigrated by Christian women
Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India 
29 April, 2026
Case Summary
Hindu residents in Dehradun, Uttarakhand were approached door to door by Christian missionary workers who attempted to encourage religious conversion through inducements and sustained outreach within Hindu localities. Hindu families in Kanwali and nearby areas were contacted repeatedly by women linked to Christian missionary activity who distributed religious material and attempted to influence residents through promises of financial and social support. The activities triggered concern among local residents after the women were seen targeting Hindu households over several days. On 30th April 2026, under the jurisdiction of Basant Vihar police station in Dehradun, two Christian women identified as Sitapuri from Baniyawala and Sumitra from Kanwali were found carrying out door to door outreach activities in Hindu dominated residential areas. The women moved through localities including Kanwali and Indira Nagar and primarily engaged with Hindu families inside their homes. During these interactions, they encouraged residents to adopt Christianity and spoke about benefits connected to conversion, including educational support, medical treatment, employment opportunities, and financial assistance for children. The women distributed printed cards containing Quick Response codes linked to the jw.org website. Residents who scanned the code were redirected to online Christian religious material. The website opened with religious content titled “Meeting Mankind’s Energy Needs, What the Bible Says”, followed by additional Christian teachings and missionary material intended to influence viewers. The women used these cards while conducting repeated outreach inside residential neighbourhoods. Further information indicated that the women had adopted Hindu names, attire, and appearance in order to blend into Hindu localities and gain the trust of residents. They wore traditional Hindu clothing and bindis while approaching homes in the area. Residents stated that the women focused particularly on Hindu women during their visits and attempted to create confusion regarding Hindu beliefs and practices while presenting Christian teachings as preferable. Suspicion among local residents increased after the women continued their activities across multiple neighbourhoods over several days. Members of the Veer Savarkar Sangathan were informed by local residents and reached the area after receiving information regarding ongoing missionary activity. Members of the organisation confronted the women and questioned them regarding their activities inside Hindu neighbourhoods. Police were subsequently informed and arrived at the location. During the inquiry, local residents and members of the Hindu organisation informed police that the women had been conducting conversion related outreach inside Hindu localities and had been offering inducements connected to education, financial aid, and medical support. It also emerged that an office linked to Jehovah’s Witnesses had been operating near Telpur Chowk under the name “Rajghar, the home of Jehovah’s Witnesses”. Hindu organisations submitted photographs and information regarding the office and demanded an investigation into its activities. A memorandum was submitted to the Senior Superintendent of Police by the Veer Savarkar Sangathan demanding action against individuals involved in religious conversion activities. The organisation also demanded demolition of the office operating near Telpur Chowk and called for stricter enforcement against conversion networks functioning in the area. Hindu organisations stated that similar outreach activities had been continuing across nearby localities and expressed concern regarding the targeting of Hindu households through door to door missionary work. Police registered a case against the two Christian women under provisions of the Uttarakhand Religious Freedom Act, 2018 and relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Both women were taken into custody and questioned regarding their activities. Police confirmed that statements from all concerned parties would be recorded and that the investigation would continue to establish the scale and background of the conversion related operations. Authorities appealed for calm while the inquiry remained ongoing.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. The subcategory selected is- Conversion/attempts to convert by inducements. 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. The other sub-category selected here is - Attempting to convert/converting by denigrating Hinduism. In several cases, Hindus are converted or an attempt is made to convert Hindus by denigrating their faith, Hinduism. In such cases, the Hindus associate with the non-Hindu perpetrators often by choice and then, the attempt to convert them by insulting their faith, showing the faith down etc begins. An example of this would be a non-Hindu gathering where the Hindus are attending the gathering of their own free will. However, once they attend the gathering, there is an explicit attempt to convert them by abusing their faith and hailing the faith of the perpetrator. The denigration of the Hindu faith is often based on misrepresentation of the Hindu faith, its doctrine and scriptures and insult to espoused traditions if not blatant lies about Hindu beliefs and ways. Such conversions or attempts at conversions are driven by animosity towards the Hindu faith and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. The other sub-category selected here is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, with the tertiary category being - 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 has been added to the tracker because Hindu residents were offered inducements and incited against their own religion for religious conversion by two Christian women. Firstly, the perpetrators offered inducements in the form of financial assistance, employment opportunities, better educational prospects, and medical treatment in an effort to convert Hindu residents to Christianity. Offering incentives or making false promises, especially when directed at vulnerable individuals in need, showed that these incentives were not acts of kindness or charity. Instead, they were calculated moves to exploit vulnerable Hindus because of their religion. By providing inducements or promising assistance in exchange for conversion, the perpetrators effectively targeted those who may have been economically or socially vulnerable and attempted to use that vulnerability as leverage for religious change. 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 were not random or isolated interactions, but organised efforts directed specifically at Hindu households. The deliberate targeting of Hindu families for conversion activity demonstrated that the religious identity of the victims was central to the actions of the perpetrators. Secondly, the perpetrators also attempted to influence religious beliefs by creating confusion regarding Hindu deities and practices while presenting Christian teachings as superior. This went beyond religious debate or proselytisation and constituted an act of incitement and insult directed at the core beliefs of the Hindu community. Such remarks were designed to demean and undermine the faith of Hindus and intended to create an inferiority complex in the minds of the victims against their own faith. This fostered an environment of hostility and disrespect towards the Hindu community and Hindu deities. These acts of insulting Hinduism stemmed from Christian theology, which harbours disdain towards polytheistic faiths and categorises Hindus as polytheists, thereby encouraging hostility against Hindu beliefs and practices. Such actions made the religiously motivated nature of the incident even more evident. Thirdly, it was further revealed that this was not an isolated incident, as the women had been carrying out similar activities for several days and had also visited multiple areas including Kanwali and Indira Nagar, indicating a sustained and deliberate effort rather than a one off occurrence. The women specifically moved door to door inside Hindu localities and concentrated their outreach on Hindu households, particularly Hindu women. They also distributed cards containing Quick Response codes linked to the jw.org website, which redirected users to Christian religious material and missionary content. This demonstrated that the outreach was organised, systematic, and designed to establish continued religious influence inside Hindu communities rather than being casual interaction. Thus, the nature of the conversion efforts and the wider impact on the Hindu community all indicated a targeted action against Hindus as a collectivity. When individuals or groups focus their efforts on converting members of a particular religion, in this case Hindus, then it demonstrates a fundamental disregard for the Hindu faith. Conversion, especially when not based on personal conviction but rather on external persuasion, inducement, or pressure, is not simply about sharing a different belief system. It is an attempt to undermine the values, traditions, and identity of the Hindu community. In this context, the Christian perpetrators specifically targeted Hindus, which demonstrated a lack of respect for Hinduism and its followers. Such actions were carried out to strip Hindu victims of their faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. Fourthly, another significant aspect of the case was that the women dressed in traditional Hindu attire, including bindis, and presented themselves in a manner consistent with local Hindu cultural norms while approaching households. By adopting outward markers of Hindu identity, they were able to blend into the community and avoid immediate suspicion, which enabled them to gain access to homes and initiate conversations with Hindu women. This deliberate use of religious and cultural symbols associated with Hinduism to build trust and facilitate conversion efforts reflected a calculated strategy to embed themselves within the target community. Such conduct demonstrated an element of deception in the approach, where familiarity and shared identity markers were used as tools to lower resistance and increase the likelihood of influencing religious beliefs. Fifthly, the incident also revealed the existence of an organised missionary infrastructure linked to the conversion activity. Information submitted to the authorities referred to an office near Telpur Chowk associated with Jehovah’s Witnesses operating under the name “Rajghar, the home of Jehovah’s Witnesses”. Hindu organisations submitted photographs of the premises and raised concerns that the office functioned as a base for coordinated conversion outreach in Hindu localities. The use of a physical office, organised distribution material, and repeated door to door outreach reflected planning and continuity in the operation rather than isolated personal religious expression. The existence of this structured missionary network reinforced concerns that Hindu residents were being systematically targeted for religious conversion. 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, medical aid, employment opportunities, or educational support. These tactics are designed not as acts of charity but as tools to engineer religious change under the guise of social upliftment, particularly among vulnerable and underprivileged communities. This systematic attempt to erode the religious foundation of individuals and replace it with allegiance to another faith reflected deep religious malice and animus against the Hindu identity. Because the core motivation of the act stemmed from hostility towards the victim’s religion and deliberate targeting of Hindu households for conversion, it met the threshold of a hate crime. Hence, categorised as a hate crime in the database.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
female
Sources 
