Hindu residents targeted for conversion under guise of prayer and healing meeting by Christian pastors in Dhamtari, Chhattisgarh
Dhamtari, Chhattisgarh, India 
9 May, 2026
Case Summary
In Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh, members of the Hindu Jagran Manch staged protests after multiple Christian prayer and healing meetings were being conducted in different parts of the city in an effort to convert Hindu residents to Christianity. According to reports, members of Hindu organisations held protests in areas including Kamal Vihar, Sen Chowk, Shriram Nagar, Ambedkar Chowk, Madrasa Gali near Shyamtarai Mandi, Depot Para Sorid, Tikrapara, and along Rudri Road, where Hindu activists confronted pastors and participants attending the healing/prayer meeting. The situation escalated into heated altercations at several locations, prompting police deployment to control tensions and restore order. Hindu Jagran Manch leaders Chitresh Sahu and Purushottam Nishad stated that healing meetings and prayer gatherings had been operating continuously across Dhamtari and nearby rural areas despite repeated complaints to the administration. They said that when organisation members visited the venues, large numbers of people were found attending the meetings, and the pastors present hesitated to provide identification details when questioned. The activists stated that these gatherings were being used to influence Hindus towards religious conversion through prayer meetings and healing services. They further stated that memorandums had previously been submitted to the district administration and Superintendent of Police demanding strict implementation of Chhattisgarh’s religious freedom law, but no effective action had been taken. The Hindu Jagran Manch warned that if the administration failed to enforce the anti-conversion law and investigate such gatherings impartially, Hindu organisations across the district would intensify their agitation. Organisation leaders also raised concerns regarding individuals from outside states conducting religious activities in the district and demanded that every prayer meeting be investigated by local police authorities to ensure compliance with the law. During the protests, pastors conducting the meetings denied engaging in conversion activities and claimed that the gatherings were matters of religious faith. The incident occurred shortly after the implementation of Chhattisgarh’s amended anti-conversion legislation, which came into force on 7 April 2026. The law criminalised religious conversion carried out through coercion, psychological pressure, inducements, fraudulent means, or misrepresentation of one religion against another. It also introduced strict procedural requirements for voluntary conversion, including prior notification to district authorities and a public objection period. Under the law, violations involving minors, women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, or mass conversions attracted enhanced punishments including long prison terms and heavy financial penalties.
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 - 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 in Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh, multiple Christian prayer and healing meetings were conducted in different parts of the city in an effort to convert Hindu residents to Christianity. These gatherings were organised in several residential areas and operated in a manner that drew strong objections from local Hindu organisations, who accused the organisers of using prayer meetings and faith-healing sessions as a medium for religious conversion activities. What was presented publicly as a routine prayer or healing gathering functioned, in practice, as an organised religious outreach programme aimed at gradually influencing Hindus away from their native faith. These meetings were conducted inside residential premises and temporary venues across multiple wards, indicating a deliberate and deceptive strategy designed to avoid public attention and scrutiny. The covert nature of such gatherings reflected a calculated strategy to avoid public attention while continuing religious activities capable of influencing vulnerable individuals under the guise of spiritual healing and emotional support. By conducting such gatherings, the Christian pastors sought to manipulate Hindus, taking advantage of their emotional and social circumstances to push them towards conversion. Furthermore, the Changai Sabha format, often described publicly as a healing meeting, 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 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. Additionally, offering incentives or making false healing promises, 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 Hindus because of their religion. By providing inducements or promising healing in exchange for conversion, the pastors 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 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. In such cases, Christian missionary groups often target and brainwash socially and economically vulnerable Hindus to further their agenda of religious conversions. Such acts were deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims, and thus, this case was added to the tracker. Taken together, the use of inducement, emotional influence, faith healing narratives, and sustained targeting of Hindu residents established a clear pattern of religiously motivated conduct. The objective was not merely religious expression, but the systematic transformation of Hindu religious identity through psychological pressure and exploitation of distress. This directly targeted Hindus because of their faith and therefore met the threshold of a religiously motivated hate crime. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incident dates based on when the victim’s ordeal began rather than when the media reported it. In this case, the report did not specify when the conversion-related activities first began. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media, 10 May 2026.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
