Hindu villagers subjected to forced religious conversion attempts; verbal abused and subjected to death threats upon refusal

Case ID : 30a8e81 | Location : Bara Banki, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Wed, 26 July, 2023

Case ID : 30a8e81

Bara Banki, Uttar Pradesh, India

26 July, 2023

Hindu villagers subjected to forced religious conversion attempts; verbal abused and subjected to death threats upon refusal

Predatory Proselytisation

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Case Summary

In the Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh, Hindu villagers were subjected to coercive religious conversion attempts, intimidation, verbal abuse, and death threats by individuals who sought to pressure them into abandoning their faith. The incident culminated in a criminal prosecution under Uttar Pradesh’s anti-conversion law, resulting in the conviction of one accused person by a court of law. According to the complaint filed on 27 July 2023 by Ramakant Vajpayee and other residents of Saraiyan Maqbool Nagar village, the accused persons, identified as Siyaram Gautam, Kishore Gautam, and Barsaati Rawat, repeatedly subjected villagers to conversion-related activities. The complaint stated that every Thursday, efforts were made through various individuals to persuade and pressure local Hindus to convert. The victims were also abused and threatened with death if they refused to accept the conversion demands. Following the complaint, Devan Police registered a case and initiated an investigation into the matter. During the investigation, the police collected evidence using scientific methods and subsequently filed a charge sheet against Siyaram Gautam, Kishore Gautam, and Barsaati Rawat. The matter proceeded to trial before the court, where the prosecution examined seven witnesses in support of the case. After evaluating the evidence and hearing arguments from both the prosecution and the defence, the court delivered its judgment on 10 June 2026. Additional District and Sessions Judge Anjani Kumar Singh found that the evidence established the guilt of Kishore Gautam under the provisions of the Religious Conversion Act. The court consequently convicted him and sentenced him to two years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of ₹15,000. However, the court acquitted the other two accused, Siyaram Gautam and Barsaati Rawat, after finding insufficient evidence to sustain their prosecution.

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 - 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 as a religiously motivated hate crime because it involved the targeting of individuals on the basis of their Hindu religious identity and their refusal to abandon their existing faith. According to the complaint submitted by Ramakant Vajpayee and other villagers, the accused were involved in organised religious conversion activities and stated that those who resisted these conversion efforts were subjected to verbal abuse and threatened with death. Such conduct went beyond the mere expression of religious beliefs and entered the realm of coercion and intimidation directed at individuals because of their adherence to their religion. The religious dimension of the offence was central to the conduct described in the case. The victims were not randomly selected; rather, they were targeted in the context of efforts to induce or pressure them to change their religion. 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. Furthermore, the subsequent verbal abuse and threats were specifically linked to the victim's refusal to abandon their faith and comply with the conversion demands. This demonstrates that the hostility and intimidation were connected to the victims' religious identity and their determination to continue practising their existing faith. When individuals are threatened, harassed, or subjected to coercive pressure because they refuse to abandon their religion, the conduct reflects prejudice and intolerance towards their religious beliefs and constitutes a violation of their right to freedom of conscience and religion. The complainants stated that the conversion-related efforts took place regularly every Thursday, demonstrating a continuing pattern rather than a one-off incident. The persistence of such activities, combined with threats directed at those who refused to participate, created an atmosphere of fear and pressure for the affected individuals. The use of intimidation to overcome religious resistance transforms what might otherwise be a matter of religious persuasion into coercive conduct aimed at undermining the victims' ability to practise and retain their faith freely. This case, therefore, qualifies as a hate crime because it involved coercive conversion-related activities, threats, and intimidation directed at individuals on account of their religious affiliation and their refusal to change their faith. The conduct sought to interfere with the victims' freedom of religion through pressure and fear rather than voluntary choice, making religion the central factor motivating the offence and the harm experienced by the victims. Disclaimer: The source identifies Ramakant Vajpayee as a complainant and states that he submitted the complaint along with other individuals from the village. However, the report does not disclose the total number of persons who were subjected to the conversion-related activities, threats, and intimidation. Therefore, the exact number of victims could not be determined from the available information. For documentation purposes, the victim count has been recorded as 1, representing only Ramakant Vajpayee. 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 the report does not specify the exact date when the conversion activities began. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the FIR was filed, 27 July 2023.