Hindu women and children targeted for conversion into Christianity with the promise of miracle healing and inducement
Lucknow District, Uttar Pradesh, India 
29 September, 2023
Case Summary
Women and Children belonging to the Dalit section of Hindus were lured to convert into Christianity by a converted Christian man named Malkhan (alias Mathews) in the Nigoha village under the Lucknow district of Uttar Pradesh. Malkhan was running a conversion racket from a makeshift church he constructed on his farm land. There, under the guise of prayer meetings, he lured poor women and children, specifically belonging to the Scheduled Cast community, promising them cures through miraculous healing and offering incentives to leave their faith and accept Christianity. Malkhan managed a WhatsApp group called “Yeshu Changai Sabha” to extend his reach and paid agents to bring in more people into his Church. He distributed Bibles and other propaganda material in Hindi to further the indoctrination. In the past two years, Malkhan has baptised hundreds of Hindus and converted them into Christians. It is stated that converted women of the village have given up putting on sindoor, and people now chant Jai Maseeh instead of Jai Shri Ram. Reports from security agencies have stated that such rackets are part of a sophisticated and well-funded system, where an organised attempt is being made to change the regional demographics; even converted people from different parts of India are being brought in and settled in villages of Uttar Pradesh.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. The first subcategory 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 second sub-category selected is: Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination with tertiary categories: Pattern of targeting Hindus, Conversion of minor. Religious brainwashing essentially means the often subtle and forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up their religious beliefs and 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 which 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 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 proselytization, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. This incident represented an instance of a hate crime against Hindus. The nature of the conversion efforts and the wider impact on the Hindu community all indicate a targeted action against Hindus as a collective. 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 Dalit Hindus, who are generally the weaker section of the Hindu society. This suggests not only a lack of respect for Hinduism and its followers but a malicious intent to exploit the vulnerability and economic hardships of the victims to push them into conversion. Since exploiting vulnerabilities for the explicit purpose of conversion is purely based on animosity towards the victim's faith, this case has been categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime. Further, the act of luring Hindus to convert to Christianity under the pretext of a prayer meeting and a promise of a miracle cure through the divine power bestowed upon the accused was a deliberate form of religious manipulation. It sought to mislead victims under the guise of worship and the superior divinity of Christ, with the specific aim of belittling and eroding their faith to detach them from their ancestral religion, Hinduism. In this case, the accused even lured in children who are susceptible to any subtle coercion and can't defend themselves against ideological manipulation. Such practices go beyond mere persuasion. They constitute targeted exploitation of trust for forced conversion, which directly undermines the dignity and spiritual freedom of the Hindu community. Such actions are a result of deep-rooted hostility towards Hinduism, making it a religiously motivated crime. Disclaimer: The details of this case reveal that more than 100 people were baptised by the accused; however, since it does not mention the exact number of victims, we have conservatively added 100 as the victim count in the database. Further, as the exact gender-wise breakdown has not been specified, a 50–50 division between women and children has been applied for documentation purposes. This is an approximate estimate and will be updated if more precise information becomes available. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case has specified the exact date when the conversion racket began. It is stated that the Church has been functioning and carrying out the conversion activities for the past 2 years. Since Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began and not when it was reported, we have considered the date of the incident as September 30, 2023, two years before the date of reporting.
Victim Details
Total Victim
100
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 50
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 50
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 100
Age Group
- Minor 50
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 50
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
