Hindu man pressured to convert to Christianity through financial inducements and threats to his family in Amla, Madhya Pradesh
Amla, Madhya Pradesh, India 
16 September, 2026
Case Summary
In Amla, Betul district, Madhya Pradesh, a Hindu businessman, Jitesh Bamne, was pressured to convert to Christianity through financial inducements and threats to his family. He was approached over a prolonged period by Ganpat Sonawane and others, who used his financial circumstances to pressure him into participating in Christian prayers and accepting financial assistance in exchange for conversion. According to the victim's complaint, he ran a clothing store in the local market to support his family. The accused, Ganpat Sonawane, had been contacting him for nearly five years under the guise of buying clothes, and other individuals also accompanied him on some visits. The complainant stated that for nearly a year, the accused exploited his financial situation and repeatedly pressured him to convert to Christianity. The complainant stated that he was called several times to a rented house in Bhimnagar, where he was pressured to participate in Christian prayers. He said that he was not interested in such activities and protested against the pressure. The accused then offered him a large sum of money if he converted to Christianity and promised to continue providing him with financial assistance. Jitesh refused to convert. Following his refusal, the complainant stated that the accused threatened him and his family and pressured him by threatening to destroy his family. He subsequently filed a complaint seeking an investigation and action against those involved. The complaint named Ganpat Sonawane, Enos alias Inos, Ramesh, son of Madhukar Atulkar, Bhaurao, son of Kaliram Chandelkar, and Sunil, son of Krishna Nagle. Amla Station House Officer Mukesh Thakur said police arrested the five accused based on the complaint filed by Jitesh Bamne. The Amla police station registered the case as Crime No. 371/26 under Section 3(5) of the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2021, and Section 351(2) of the BNS.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. Within this, the subcategory selected is - Conversion/attempts to convert by inducements. 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 category 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 was included in the Tracker because it involved a deliberate and organised effort to persuade a Hindu victim to abandon his faith and adopt Christianity through the offer of financial inducements and continued financial assistance. The conduct was directed specifically at a member of the Hindu community and was aimed at securing a change in his religious identity. The issue was therefore not merely the expression of Christian belief, but the use of financial incentives and promised assistance to encourage the abandonment of Hinduism and the adoption of another religion. The religious motivation was evident in the nature of the inducements offered. The financial benefits were not presented as unconditional assistance available irrespective of religious affiliation. Instead, a large sum of money and continued financial assistance were offered if the Hindu victim converted to Christianity. This demonstrated that the objective was not financial support or ordinary social assistance, but religious conversion. The fact that financial benefits were tied directly to a change of faith revealed a deliberate attempt to influence the religious choice of the Hindu victim through external incentives rather than personal spiritual conviction. These inducements were particularly significant because they exploited his financial circumstances. The accused used his financial situation as a means of encouraging him to abandon his existing faith and accept Christianity. When the Hindu victim refused to convert, the pressure escalated into threats against him and his family. The complainant stated that the accused threatened to destroy his family after he rejected their attempts to convert him. The threats after his refusal showed that the pressure went beyond persuasion or religious expression. His decision to retain his Hindu faith was met with intimidation directed not only at him but also at his family. This further demonstrated an attempt to compel him to surrender his religious identity by making the consequences of refusing conversion personally and socially threatening. This prolonged process was designed to weaken the Hindu victim's attachment to his faith through repeated pressure, financial inducements and Christian religious practices rather than allowing his religious choice to remain genuinely voluntary. When he resisted conversion, the accused escalated the pressure by threatening him and his family. The combination of financial inducements, repeated pressure to participate in Christian prayers and threats against the victim's family demonstrated a sustained effort to secure his conversion to Christianity. The conduct therefore directly interfered with the victim's ability to retain his Hindu religious identity and showed that the conversion objective remained central throughout the interaction. Such predatory conversion efforts stem from Abrahamic doctrines like Christianity that view non-believers with disdain until they convert, fostering contempt that manifests in targeted crimes against Hindus. Therefore, this case has been added to the Hinduphobia Tracker's hate crime database. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim's ordeal began, rather than when it was reported. Since the media report does not mention when the conversion took place, we used the date the media reported it as the incident date.
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 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
