Hindu residents lured with financial inducements for forced Christian conversion; Hindu worship denigrated in Kandivali, Mumbai
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India 
18 August, 2026
Case Summary
In the Sanjay Nagar area of Kandivali, Mumbai, Hindu residents were targeted and offered inducements for religious conversion by three Christian individuals, including a South Korean national and two local residents. According to reports, the incident occurred on 19 August 2026, when three Christian individuals were caught by Bajrang Dal members while attempting to convert Hindus. The two local individuals were originally Buddhists and had later converted to Christianity, while the foreign national had come to India from South Korea for education. The trio visited the settlement during the afternoon and approached Hindu residents, inviting them to attend a religious seminar and offering ₹5–6 lakh to those who converted to Christianity. They also told Hindu residents that their diseases would be cured if they attended the seminar and converted. The incident came to light when the trio spoke to local Hindu women who said they were worshipping Shiva during the month of Shravan. In response, the preachers denigrated Hindu worship by saying that the Shivling was merely a stone and could not be God. Jitendra Chaudhary and other young residents who overheard the conversation recorded it on their mobile phones. The youths then confronted the three individuals and told them that offering money for conversion and insulting Hindu deities constituted an offence. Following the confrontation, the youths contacted Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists, who arrived at the location and informed the police. Kandivali Police subsequently took all three individuals into custody and initiated an investigation into the incident and whether a wider network was involved in the conversion activity. Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal called for action against the two local individuals and the South Korean national, stating that they had targeted economically vulnerable residents with inducements to facilitate religious conversion.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category selected in this case is- Predatory Proselytisation. The sub-category selected is- 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 second primary category selected here is - Hate speech against Hindus. Within it, the sub-category selected here is - Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith. Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. The incident qualified as a religiously motivated hate crime because the conduct was directed specifically at Hindu residents for religious conversion, rather than being a general attempt to promote a different faith. The Christian perpetrators entered a settlement where Hindu residents were approached specifically for Christian conversion and used financial inducements and promises of relief from illnesses to encourage them to abandon their existing faith. This targeting of people on the basis of their religious identity was central to the incident. The use of financial inducements also strengthened the religious dimension of the incident. Offering ₹5–6 lakh to people in a settlement in exchange for conversion indicated that the objective was not simply to communicate religious beliefs or invite people to voluntarily attend a religious programme. By providing inducements or promising healing in exchange for conversion, the accused were effectively blackmailing those who might have been desperate for assistance or hope. The promise that their illnesses would be cured through participation in the religious programme similarly connected material or personal benefits to conversion, making the religious identity of the targeted individuals fundamental to the conduct. 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. The religiously motivated nature of the conduct was further demonstrated by the manner in which Hindu beliefs were treated during the interaction. When local women referred to their worship of Shiva during Shravan, the response directly denigrated a central Hindu religious symbol by dismissing the Shivling as merely a stone and denying its divinity. 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. The denigration of the Shivling established a direct connection between the conversion activity and hostility towards the religious beliefs of those being approached. It demonstrated that the interaction involved not only promoting an alternative faith but also portraying an important Hindu object of worship as illegitimate. This combination of targeting Hindus for conversion, attaching financial and health-related incentives to conversion, and disparaging Hindu religious beliefs provided the religious motive underlying the incident. 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. Accordingly, the case was significant from a hate-crime perspective because the victims were approached and their beliefs were challenged specifically within the context of their Hindu religious identity. The conduct sought to weaken that identity through inducement while simultaneously demeaning a central element of Hindu worship. The religious identity of the targeted community was therefore not incidental to the incident but was the principal factor around which the interaction took place.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
