Poor Hindu labourers lured towards Christian conversion with promises of money and denigrating Hinduism in Maharajganj, Uttar Pradesh
Maharajganj, Uttar Pradesh, India 
4 July, 2026
Case Summary
In Piparadeura Ward under Sadar Kotwali in Maharajganj, Uttar Pradesh, Hindu residents from poor and labouring backgrounds were lured towards religious conversion through cash inducements by a Christian pastor. Three people, including the pastor, were arrested. The case came to light after Rashtriya Bajrang Dal officials, acting on a tip-off, reached the spot on Sunday, 5 July 2026, and raised an alarm. The activists stated that a conversion meeting, disguised as a "Bedari Sabha" (prayer meeting), was being organised at the house of a person named Saroj. It was attended by more than 100 Hindus belonging to the labouring class. The police were immediately informed, following which they detained six people from the spot. The following day, Reena, a resident of village Bilwania residing at Kanshi Ram Awas in Piparadeura, who had attended the meeting, submitted a written complaint to the Kotwali police. She stated that Pastor Saroj Kumar and Saroj Devi, both residents of Piparadeura, along with Priyanka, a resident of Turkadiha in Kushinagar district, had for a considerable period been organising religious assemblies at their residence. According to her complaint, these assemblies specifically targeted poor and labouring-class Hindus, luring and enticing them towards conversion through the promise of money. The Sunday assembly, held at around 4 pm, drew a large gathering. Reena stated that objectionable remarks were made about the Hindu faith during the meeting and that those present were encouraged to convert. She further stated that these remarks had hurt her religious sentiments. She further stated that, after the assembly concluded, she recovered five religious scriptures belonging to another faith, around 50 pamphlets, and a dholak from the site. She took these materials to the police station along with her brother, Rakesh Kumar, and a local resident, Sanjay Kumar, and handed them over to the police. Acting on Reena's complaint, the Kotwali police registered an FIR against Pastor Saroj Kumar, Saroj Devi, and Priyanka, and arrested all three.
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 - 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 is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected is: Victim says was brainwashed/groomed and 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 that is often understated in such conversions or the attempts of such conversion is the role of loyalty and trust that might develop between the perpetrator and the victim. Fiduciary relationships are often abused to affect such religious conversion. For example, an educator transmitting the religious doctrine of a competing faith to a Hindu student. The Hindu student is likely to accept what the teacher is transmitting owing to the 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 proselytisation, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. This case was included in the Hinduphobia Tracker because poor and labouring-class Hindus were deliberately targeted for religious conversion through monetary inducements, sustained religious gatherings, and the denigration of Hinduism. The religious trigger was evident from the organised efforts to persuade Hindus to abandon their faith by offering financial benefits while simultaneously making objectionable remarks about Hindu dharma. The repeated organisation of such assemblies demonstrated that the objective extended beyond religious preaching and was directed towards securing the conversion of Hindus. To begin with, the victims were not approached at random; they were deliberately targeted primarily because they were Hindus and, more importantly, because they belonged to economically vulnerable sections of society. These perpetrators deliberately target such people with limited access to education, healthcare, employment, and state support, making them easier targets for inducement-based conversion campaigns. Deliberately focusing on a community because of its social and economic circumstances reflected a calculated effort to prey upon those least able to resist such inducements. Further, the promise of money was used as an incentive to influence their religious choices and persuade them to abandon their ancestral faith. Rather than respecting their right to preserve their ancestral faith and cultural identity, the accused exploited these vulnerabilities to advance religious conversion. Such inducements exploited financial hardship to create dependence, replacing genuine religious conviction with material considerations. The victims' Hindu identity therefore formed the central basis of their selection. Furthermore, the repeated organisation of religious gatherings reflected a structured and sustained effort rather than an isolated attempt at persuasion. The assemblies provided an environment in which vulnerable Hindus could be repeatedly exposed to messages encouraging them to abandon their faith. Such continuous engagement enabled the perpetrators to gradually build familiarity, influence, and trust before attempting to secure religious conversion, demonstrating a deliberate process of grooming and psychological manipulation. Moreover, the derogatory remarks directed against Hindu dharma served a clear religious purpose. Rather than presenting another faith independently, the gatherings sought to weaken the participants' confidence in their own religion by portraying Hindu beliefs negatively while encouraging acceptance of another faith. Such denigration formed an important tool for creating disaffection towards Hinduism and making religious conversion appear desirable. Such instances of forced proselytisation were manifestations of doctrinal hostility embedded within Abrahamic religions like Christianity that regarded non-adherents as inferior and encouraged their conversion. This led to the dehumanisation of those who did not share the faith and created an environment in which coercive conversions became instruments for stripping Hindu individuals of their religious identity. Taken together, the inducements, repeated religious assemblies, and denigration of Hinduism formed interconnected components of a carefully planned conversion strategy. The victims were selected because they were Hindus, their economic vulnerability was consciously exploited, and sustained psychological influence was employed to weaken their attachment to their ancestral faith before encouraging conversion. The organised nature of the activities demonstrated that the objective was the systematic conversion of vulnerable Hindus rather than the free exchange of religious ideas. Accordingly, the incident represented a coordinated effort to diminish Hindu religious identity through inducement, manipulation, and sustained ideological influence. Therefore, the case warranted inclusion in the Hinduphobia Tracker as a religiously motivated hate crime. Disclaimer: The tracker records incident dates based on when the crime occurred, or the victim's ordeal began, rather than when it was reported or published. However, when this information is unavailable, the tracker uses the earliest available date. Here, the exact date on which the conversion operations began was not confirmed in the source. Therefore, 5 July 2026 has been used as the indicative incident date, reflecting the publication date as the earliest available reference point. This date has been recorded for documentation purposes only. Disclaimer: Reports indicate that more than 100 Hindus were targeted for conversion. Since the exact number of individuals who were targeted or subjected to conversion attempts has not been independently established, the victim count has been conservatively recorded as 100 for documentation purposes.
Victim Details
Total Victim
100
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 100
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 100
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 100
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
