Hindu man pressured to convert to Christianity through inducements and religious sermons by Christian conversion gang in Pratapgarh
Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India 
3 June, 2026
Case Summary
A Hindu man from Bahariya village in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh, was repeatedly targeted by a Christian man who attempted to make him abandon his faith. The Christian man persistently delivered religious sermons, offered various inducements, and exerted pressure to persuade him to convert to Christianity against his wishes. Despite his repeated refusal, the accused continued his effort for religious conversion. The case pertains to the Mandhata police station area of Pratapgarh district. Based on the complainant's written complaint, police registered an FIR under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act and other relevant provisions of law. After conducting a preliminary inquiry, police arrested the accused, identified as Surendra Gautam (aged 32), a resident of Ramnagar village under the Raniganj police station area. Hinduphobia Tracker contacted the concerned police station for additional information. According to police officials, the case was registered approximately two months ago, although they did not disclose the exact date of registration. Police further stated that the accused is a converted Christian and that he was working on behalf of converted Christians and was involved in carrying out forced religious conversions. The police also confirmed that the accused was in judicial custody while the investigation continued. Police said they were examining all available evidence to determine whether other individuals were involved and whether the conversion activities were part of a larger network.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The selected primary category in this case is: Predatory Proselytisation, with the subcategory selected as: 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 subcategory selected is: 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. In this case, the actions were directed specifically at the Hindu man because of his Hindu faith. The accused repeatedly attempted to persuade him to abandon Hinduism by delivering religious sermons, offering inducements, and exerting pressure to convert to Christianity. This is the targeting of his religious identity and interfering with his constitutional right to freely practice and profess his religion. When a religious group, such as Christianity in this case, attempts to convert Hindus through coercion, threats, fraud, or material inducements rather than an individual's free and informed choice, it can cause fear, distrust, and social tension within the Hindu community. This is an attack on the Hindu religious identity and beliefs. The Hindu man said that the accused attempted to influence him by offering various inducements while encouraging him to convert to Christianity. Luring Hindus to convert to a different faith by offering money and inducements such as miracle cures for ailments is predatory in nature since the extremists manipulate the specific vulnerabilities of disadvantaged and poor Hindus to manipulate them into conversion. This stems from inherent hostility towards the victim's professed faith since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent to the faith is a subject to be dehumanised till they convert. Since such predatory actions stem from doctrinal animosity towards the Hindu faith and its adherents, this case is being documented as a religiously motivated hate crime. Disclaimer: The exact date of the incident or the FIR registration has not been reported in any publicly available news reports, and the police did not provide a specific date when contacted by the Hinduphobia Tracker team. During our conversation with the concerned police station on 4 August 2026, officials stated that the case had been registered approximately two months earlier. Accordingly, for documentation and timeline purposes, Hinduphobia Tracker has recorded the incident date as 4 June 2026, which is an approximate date derived from the police's statement and not an officially confirmed date of the incident or FIR registration.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 1
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 1
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
