Hindu man offered inducements for forced Christian conversion; subjected to death threats upon refusal

Case ID : 30a8d3a | Location : Lakhimpur, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 4 June, 2026

Case ID : 30a8d3a

Lakhimpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

4 June, 2026

Hindu man offered inducements for forced Christian conversion; subjected to death threats upon refusal

Predatory Proselytisation

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Case Summary

In the Singahi police station area of Lakhimpur Kheri district, Uttar Pradesh, near the Indo-Nepal border, a Hindu man named Mohit Chaudhary was pressured to convert to Christianity through inducements by Pastor Vijay. When Mohit resisted, he was subjected to death threats. The incident occurred on 5 June 2026 when the victim, Mohit Chaudhary, a resident of Nibauriya village, was taken by a Christian man identified as Pastor Vijay, a resident of Khairatia village, to Dalrajpur village. During the journey and after reaching the location, Pastor Vijay repeatedly pressured Mohit to embrace Christianity, assuring him that his financial difficulties and personal problems would be resolved if he converted. According to the complaint, another individual, Shivkumar Master, subsequently joined them and participated in persuading Mohit to abandon his faith. Both men offered various inducements, including monetary benefits, in an effort to secure his conversion. When Mohit firmly refused to convert, the two men became hostile and subjected him to verbal abuse. They also threatened to kill him for resisting their demands. The complaint further stated that both accused had themselves converted to Christianity and were actively promoting the faith in the area. Mohit informed the police that economically vulnerable and poor individuals were being specifically targeted and lured with promises of financial assistance and other benefits in order to encourage religious conversion. The matter attracted attention due to the location of the incident in the sensitive Indo-Nepal border region, where concerns had previously been raised regarding conversion-related activities. Acting on the complaint, the Singahi police registered a First Information Report against the two accused under relevant legal provisions and initiated an investigation. Police officials stated that the revelations contained in the complaint were being examined impartially and that further legal action would be taken on the basis of evidence gathered during the investigation. The inquiry was assigned to Sub-Inspector Krishna Chandra Tiwari, who was tasked with questioning the accused and verifying the circumstances surrounding the incident. Authorities also began examining whether the case formed part of a wider conversion network operating in the border region.

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 - 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. The other sub-category selected here 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. This case has been added to the tracker because a Hindu man named Mohit Chaudhary was targeted for religious conversion by two individuals who attempted to persuade him to abandon his Hindu faith and convert to Christianity through inducements and promises of financial benefits. The victim was offered money, financial assistance, or other benefits in exchange for religious conversion. Offering incentives or making false 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 vulnerable Hindus because of religion. By providing inducements or promising better life in exchange for conversion, the accused 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. Furthermore, the accused attempted to force the Hindu victim to renounce his religion and convert to Christianity. Pressuring a Hindu individual to discard his religious faith and embrace another was a direct attack on his religious identity and dignity. It was not a matter of personal choice; it was coercion rooted in hostility towards the victim's Hindu identity. Such an attempt reflects religious animosity because the act was not simply about personal differences but about erasing the victim’s Hindu faith, making it a religiously motivated crime Additionally, when Mohit Chaudhary refused to convert despite repeated persuasion and inducements, the accused resorted to intimidation and threats. The escalation from inducement to threats demonstrates that the accused were unwilling to accept the victim's decision to remain Hindu and sought to compel compliance through fear. Such threats transformed the incident from an attempt at persuasion into an act of coercion. The use of intimidation against an individual because he refused to abandon his faith constitutes a serious violation of religious freedom and underscores the religiously motivated nature of the offence. 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. 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 reflects deep religious malice and animus against the Hindu identity. Because the core motivation of the act stems from hostility toward the victim’s religion, it meets the threshold of a hate crime. Hence, categorised as a hate crime in the database.