Hindu residents targeted and offered inducements to convert to Christianity; derogatory remarks made against Hinduism

Case ID : 30a8dd8 | Location : Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 7 June, 2026

Case ID : 30a8dd8

Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, India

7 June, 2026

Hindu residents targeted and offered inducements to convert to Christianity; derogatory remarks made against Hinduism

Predatory Proselytisation

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Pattern of targeting Hindus

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Attempting to convert/converting by denigrating Hinduism

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Case Summary

In the Havan area of Ghumarwin subdivision in Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh, Hindu residents were targeted and offered inducements to convert to Christianity. The matter came to light when several villagers submitted written complaints to the Ghumarwin Police Station, prompting the police to initiate an investigation. The complaints stated that Christian missionaries had approached residents and attempted to persuade them to abandon their Hindu faith in exchange for substantial monetary rewards and ongoing assistance, while making derogatory remarks against Hinduism. One of the complainants, Sandeep Kumar, a resident of Havan village, stated that he had visited a shop near the Bhyanu Pir Temple for personal work when a vehicle carrying three women and three men stopped nearby. During the interaction, one of the men, who identified himself as being from the area, began discussing religious conversion and encouraged Sandeep and his family to embrace Christianity. Sandeep stated that he was offered ₹5 lakh, a monthly payment of ₹5,000, and free medical treatment if he and his family converted. He further stated that derogatory remarks were made about Hinduism during the conversation. When he rejected the proposal, he was verbally abused. According to the complaint, a Bible was handed to him, and he was asked to reconsider the offer. The controversy widened when another Hindu resident, Ravi Kumar, approached the police and reported that his wife had already been converted and that pressure was being exerted on the rest of his family to change their religion. Following these complaints, numerous villagers, including Sunita Devi, Manorama, Pooja, Champa, Omkar Singh, Omkar Devi, Suman, Ravindra, Rajkumar and Navdeep, submitted separate written representations seeking a fair investigation and legal action against those responsible. The incident triggered widespread concern across the locality and became a major topic of discussion both within the village and on social media. A large number of residents gathered at the Ghumarwin Police Station to demand action. Representatives of Hindu organisations, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad state minister Tushar Dogra, district minister Vishal Nadda, Samvedna Sanstha secretary Satyan Sharma and several local villagers, urged the administration to thoroughly investigate the matter and establish the facts. The police acknowledged receiving multiple complaints and stated that evidence was being collected from all angles. DSP Vishal Verma confirmed that an investigation was underway and that further legal action would be taken based on the findings of the inquiry.

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, 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. The other sub-category selected here 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 - 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 - 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 Hindu residents were specifically targeted for religious conversion through the use of financial inducements, promises of material benefits, distribution of Christian religious literature, derogatory remarks about Hinduism, and continued pressure to abandon their faith. The available facts indicate that the victims were approached not as random individuals but as Hindus whose religious identity was the very focus of the conversion effort. Firstly, the victim, Sandeep Kumar, stated that he was offered ₹5 lakh, a monthly payment of ₹5,000, and free medical treatment if he and his family converted to Christianity. Such offers go beyond the mere expression of religious beliefs and constitute an attempt to secure religious conversion through material inducements. 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 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. Secondly, Sandeep also stated that derogatory remarks were made about Hinduism by the Christian perpetrators in an effort to convert him to Christianity. This goes beyond religious debate or proselytisation; it constitutes an act of incitement and insult directed at the core beliefs of the Hindu community. Such remarks are designed to demean and undermine the faith of Hindus and intend to create an inferiority complex in the minds of the victims against their own faith. This fosters an environment of hostility and disrespect towards the Hindu community and Hindu deities. These acts of insulting Hinduism stem from Christian theology, which harbours disdain and hatred for polytheistic faiths, and which categorises Hindus as ‘polytheists’, thereby fostering hatred against them. Such actions make the religiously motivated nature of the crime even more evident. Thirdly, the perpetrators provided Sandeep with a Bible and encouraged him to reconsider their offer. The distribution of Christian religious literature formed part of a broader effort to persuade and influence the victim to abandon his existing faith. While the sharing of religious texts is not inherently unlawful, in this case it occurred alongside monetary inducements, criticism of Hinduism, and active efforts to secure conversion. Viewed in the context of the wider incident, the handing over of religious literature was not an isolated act but part of a coordinated attempt to influence the religious beliefs of Hindu victims and encourage them to adopt a different faith. Such actions further demonstrate that this was not an isolated incident of evangelism, but rather part of a broader, organised operation to further religious conversions. When Christian religious material is used to exploit trust, sow doubt, and misrepresent the beliefs of Hindus to coerce conversion, particularly in a systematic manner, it constitutes a religiously motivated offence. Fourth, when Sandeep rejected and resisted conversion, he was verbally abused. The hostility shown after the refusal is significant because it demonstrates that the interaction was not limited to a peaceful exchange of religious views. The abuse followed the victim's decision to remain Hindu and reject conversion. Such conduct suggests intolerance towards the victim's choice to retain his religious identity and reinforces the coercive nature of the encounter Similarly, another Hindu resident, Ravi Kumar, and his family, was also pressured by his wife to change their religion. Pressuring a Hindu individual to discard his religious faith and embrace another is a direct attack on his religious identity and dignity. It is not a matter of personal choice; it is coercion rooted in hostility towards the victim's Hindu identity. Such an attempt reflects religious animosity because the act is not simply about personal differences but about erasing the victim’s Hindu faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. The nature of the conversion efforts and the wider impact on the Hindu community all indicate 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 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 demonstrates a lack of respect for Hinduism and its followers. Such actions are carried out to strip Hindu victims of their faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. 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. Disclaimer: The perpetrator count has been recorded as 7 based on the individuals explicitly mentioned in available reports. The reports state that three men and three women arrived in a vehicle and participated in the interaction in which inducements were offered to Sandeep Kumar for religious conversion. One of the men was described as being known to the complainant and was separately identified in media reports as Rajkumar of Chachera, Ghumarwin. Additionally, Ravi Kumar stated that his wife had converted and was exerting pressure on the rest of the family to change their religion. Accordingly, the perpetrator count has been recorded as 7, comprising Rajkumar, five other unidentified individuals who accompanied him in the vehicle, and Ravi Kumar's wife. The tracker acknowledges that additional persons may have been involved in the wider conversion activities; however, only those explicitly mentioned or directly connected to the reported conversion efforts have been included in the perpetrator count. Disclaimer: The victim count has been recorded as 12 based on the individuals who were explicitly identified in available reports as being directly affected by, or raising complaints regarding, the reported conversion activities. This includes Sandeep Kumar, who stated that he and his family were offered inducements to convert; Ravi Kumar, who reported that pressure was being exerted on his family to change their religion; and ten additional villagers, Sunita Devi, Manorama, Pooja, Champa, Omkar Singh, Omkar Devi, Suman, Ravindra, Rajkumar, and Navdeep, who submitted written complaints to the police seeking investigation and action in connection with the reported conversion efforts. While the reports indicate that the families of Sandeep Kumar and Ravi Kumar were also affected, the exact number of family members was not specified. Accordingly, unnamed family members have not been counted separately. The tracker acknowledges that the actual number of victims may be higher than the recorded figure; however, only those individuals explicitly mentioned in available sources have been included in the victim count. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when an event occurred or when the victim's ordeal began. It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case has specified the exact date when the conversion activities began. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media, 8 June 2026.