Hindu man and his daughter targeted for Christian conversion through inducements; Hindu beliefs denigrated in Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh

Case ID : 30aa0be | Location : Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 22 August, 2026

Case ID : 30aa0be

Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh, India

22 August, 2026

Hindu man and his daughter targeted for Christian conversion through inducements; Hindu beliefs denigrated in Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh

Predatory Proselytisation

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Attempting to convert/converting by denigrating Hinduism

Case Summary

In Junagaon village, Jhabua district, Madhya Pradesh, a Hindu man and his daughter were targeted for religious conversion to Christianity through monetary and material inducements and pressure by two men identified as Pangusingh and Prem. The victim, Bharat Singad, son of late Radan Singad and a resident of Kodar Phaliya, had recently lost his father and eldest son to illness, and the two men approached him during this difficult period. Pangusingh and Prem, residents of Puwala, first stopped Bharat near the old Ranapur bus stand and told him, “Things are not going well at your home; your gods are angry with you.” On 23 August 2026 at around 7:30 PM, the two men arrived at Bharat’s house, where he was present with his daughter Vesti. They pressured both of them to adopt Christianity, sprinkled water on them from a small lota (pot), and made Bharat place his hand on a Bible. The two men promised to give Bharat ₹1,000 every month, clothes, and free medical treatment for his entire family if he converted to Christianity. Uncomfortable with the situation, Bharat contacted his relative Rakesh Singad and called him to the house. Village elders Tadvi Janiya Singad and Agansingh Singad, along with other villagers, subsequently reached the spot. The villagers caught Pangusingh and Prem and handed them over to Ranapur Police. Under the directions of Station House Officer Inspector Dinesh Rawat, police registered a case against both men under Sections 3 and 5 of the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2021. Pangusingh and Prem were arrested, and further investigation was assigned to ASI Manish Kumar, in-charge of the Kanjawani police outpost.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The primary category selected for this case is: Predatory proselytisation. The subcategory selected for this case is: Conversion/attempts to convert by inducement. Predatory Proselytisation is not 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 to change 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 for this case 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 insults to espoused traditions, if not blatant lies about Hindu beliefs and ways. Such conversions or attempts at conversion are driven by animosity towards the Hindu faith and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. In this case, a Hindu man and his daughter were targeted for conversion to Christianity while the family was already facing bereavement and personal hardship. Their vulnerable circumstances were used as an entry point for religious influence, with monetary and material benefits offered as an incentive to abandon their existing faith. The offer of monthly financial assistance, clothes and free medical treatment was particularly significant. For a family facing hardship, such benefits can create a strong incentive to accept the proposed conversion. When material and healthcare benefits are tied to a change of religion, they cease to be mere assistance and become a means of influencing religious choice. A genuine change of faith should be based on personal conviction and free choice, rather than dependence on promised financial or material support. The approach also took place against the backdrop of significant personal loss. The victim was grieving the deaths of his father and eldest son, both of whom had died after illness. Using this period of grief and emotional vulnerability to influence his religious beliefs made the conversion attempt particularly concerning, as his circumstances were used to make the promises of support more persuasive. The attempt to influence the family's faith was further accompanied by disparagement of their existing Hindu beliefs. The Hindu victim was told that his deities were angry with him and that his family's difficulties were connected to those deities. This did not merely promote Christianity as an alternative faith. It sought to undermine the victim's confidence in the religion he already followed while presenting Christianity as the solution to his personal difficulties. The manner in which the victim's faith was denigrated is also indicative of a deeper hostility towards the religious identity he professed. Abrahamic faiths believe that non-adherents are subject to being dehumanised until they convert. This mindset does not merely tolerate the existence of another faith but seeks its erasure or assimilation. As a result, Hindus are often targeted not because of who they are as individuals, but because of their religious identity. The violence, deception, or humiliation inflicted in such cases is therefore not random, but part of a broader ideological hostility towards Hinduism and its symbols, practices, and adherents. Here, too, the predatory actions stemmed from doctrinal animosity towards the Hindu faith. The accused did not merely attempt to persuade the victims to adopt Christianity. They undermined their existing Hindu beliefs, exploited their vulnerability and offered material inducements to facilitate their conversion. The conduct therefore reflected hostility towards the victims' continued adherence to Hinduism and an effort to replace that identity with another faith. This is why the incident is being documented as a religiously motivated hate crime. The victims were targeted in the context of their Hindu religious identity, their faith was disparaged, and their vulnerability was exploited as part of an effort to induce them to abandon Hinduism. The religious dimension was therefore central to the conduct rather than incidental to it.