Hindu residents, including minors, pressured for religious conversion under pretext of prayer meetings by Christian missionaries in Ayodhya

Case ID : 30a86d9 | Location : Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 30 September, 2021

Case ID : 30a86d9

Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India

30 September, 2021

Hindu residents, including minors, pressured for religious conversion under pretext of prayer meetings by Christian missionaries in Ayodhya

Predatory Proselytisation

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Pattern of targeting Hindus

Conversion of minor

Case Summary

In Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya, several Hindu residents, including women and children, were targeted for forced conversions by Christian missionaries. The victims were lured under the pretext of attending prayer meetings, while Christian religious texts were used to indoctrinate them for conversion. According to reports, the incident took place in Chandpur village, situated near the Prayagraj Highway in proximity to the Bikapur Nagar Panchayat area. On 1 October 2021, a large gathering of Hindus from different nearby villages, belonging primarily to the Scheduled Caste communities, had assembled at a house for what was described as a ‘worship/prayer’ meeting. The organisers had gathered the victims under the pretext of prayer meetings in an attempt to carry out mass religious conversions. Following information about the gathering, Bikapur Deputy District Magistrate Anurag Prasad and Circle Officer Satyendra Bhushan, accompanied by a contingent of police officials, raided the premises where the meeting was being conducted. Around 60 Hindu men, women, and children present at the gathering were subsequently taken into custody for questioning. During the raid, Christian religious materials and several mobile phones were recovered from the premises. According to sources, the organisers of the gathering were attempting to convert the large group of people. The house where the mass conversion attempt was taking place belonged to Kesha Devi, a woman from Patupur, who was also taken into police custody for further interrogation.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The primary category selected in this is- Predatory Proselytisation. The subcategory selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary categories selected are- Pattern of targeting Hindus, Conversion of Minor. 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. In this case, several Hindus, including women and children, were targeted for religious conversion by Christian evangelists under the guise of prayer meetings. The victims, many of whom belonged to Scheduled Caste communities from nearby villages, were gathered and subjected to religious indoctrination using Christian texts and literature. The organised nature of the gathering, along with the recovery of Christian religious material from the premises, indicated a deliberate attempt to convert Hindus to Christianity. Such targeted efforts directed specifically at members of one religious community demonstrated a clear disregard for the beliefs, traditions, and religious identity of Hindus. Conversion achieved through manipulation or organised pressure is not merely the sharing of religious beliefs, but an attempt to erode the faith and cultural identity of the targeted community, making this a religiously motivated act against Hindus. The Hindu victims were deliberately gathered under the false pretext of attending prayer meetings and worship sessions. The term “prayer meeting” ordinarily refers to a genuine spiritual gathering meant for worship and reflection. However, in this case, such gatherings were used as a deceptive mechanism to lure Hindus and expose them to sustained religious indoctrination with the intention of conversion. Instead of serving a legitimate spiritual purpose, these meetings were organised to influence vulnerable Hindus and detach them from their faith. The deliberate targeting of Hindus through deception underlined the religiously motivated nature of the incident. The Christian organisers were also actively using Christian religious texts and materials to indoctrinate the Hindu victims. Employing the scriptures and literature of one religion to deliberately target members of another faith community for conversion represented a direct attack on the religious beliefs and identity of the Hindu victims. Such actions sought to undermine the faith of the victims while promoting conversion through organised religious influence. The recovery of Christian religious material and mobile phones from the premises further indicated that this was not an isolated religious gathering, but part of a broader and coordinated conversion effort targeting Hindus. When religious material is systematically used to exploit trust, influence vulnerable individuals, and encourage conversion away from their existing faith, it constitutes a religiously motivated offence directed at the targeted community. It is also significant that the victims included Hindu children. The involvement of minors highlighted the absence of genuine informed consent in the conversion process from the outset. Children, due to their age and vulnerability, are far more susceptible to manipulation and religious influence and are incapable of fully understanding the long-term implications of conversion. By including children in such gatherings and exposing them to organised religious indoctrination, the perpetrators exploited their vulnerability for the purpose of religious conversion. The targeting of Hindu children alongside adults demonstrated the coercive and manipulative nature of the operation, further reinforcing that this was a religiously motivated act directed against Hindus. The incident also reflected a broader pattern of organised conversion activities targeting vulnerable Hindu communities. The gathering involved a large number of Hindus, indicating that the operation was neither isolated nor incidental. The systematic targeting of socially vulnerable Hindus, particularly those from Scheduled Caste communities, demonstrated a deliberate attempt to exploit social conditions in order to facilitate religious conversion. Such repeated and organised efforts to target Hindus for conversion through deception and sustained indoctrination represented a calculated attempt to weaken and erase the religious identity of the Hindu community. The organised nature of the incident, therefore, highlighted a clear pattern of religiously motivated targeting against Hindus. These instances of targeted proselytisation activities stem from inherent hostility towards the victims' professed faith since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent to their faith is subject to being dehumanised till they convert, making it a religiously motivated crime against Hindus. Therefore, this case is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: Media reports stated that around 60 Hindu villagers, including men, women, and children, were targeted for conversion in Chandpur village near the Bikapur Nagar Panchayat area of Ayodhya district, Uttar Pradesh, but no gender-wise breakdown was provided. For documentation clarity, the Hinduphobia Tracker has applied a proportional demographic estimate based on India’s Census 2011 and National Family Health Survey-5 (2019–21) rural population data. Accordingly, the 60 participants are estimated as 30 men (50%) and 30 women (50%), reflecting an equal gender distribution consistent with typical rural family demographics. As the age-wise segregation was also not specified in the media reports, the Hinduphobia Tracker has used a proportional demographic estimate derived from the same data sources. Accordingly, the 60 participants are estimated as 42 adults (70%) and 18 children (30%). The total number of perpetrators involved in the incident was not specified in media reports. The only individual identified in connection with the gathering was Kesha Devi, at whose house the prayer meeting and conversion activity had been organised. Accordingly, for documentation purposes, the perpetrator count has been conservatively recorded as one. This estimate refers solely to Kesha Devi and does not preclude the possible involvement of additional unidentified individuals.