Hindu family lured with inducements, subjected to brainwashing and denigration of Hindu faith to convert to Christianity; accused are repeat offenders
Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India 
14 October, 2025
Case Summary
In Agra, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu family was targeted for Christian conversion by a Christian man and woman. The victims were lured with several incentives and were brainwashed using Christian religious texts. During this conversion attempt, the Hindu faith was also insulted and denigrated. The accused had been targeting several other Hindus in the neighbourhood as well. This incident occurred on 15th October 2025. The accused were identified as Achyut Kumar Devri from Arunachal Pradesh and Prashanna Dhan from Ranchi, Jharkhand. Both accused had targeted Hindus for conversion in the Awaas Vikas area. They visited the house of a Hindu man named Virendra Gautam. Virendra Gautam stated that he had been at home around 11 a.m. when the Christian man and woman entered and began criticising Hinduism while promoting Christianity. His wife was offered money and inducements such as free education and land to convert to Christianity. Upon hearing this, Virendra Gautam confronted them. He noticed that their manner of speaking was not local and immediately called members of the Bajrang Dal, a Hindu organisation, and informed the police. Shortly after the incident was reported, activists from the Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal arrived at the scene. The Hindu activists seized a large amount of Christian texts, books and pamphlets, which the accused were using for carrying out conversions. Vishva Hindu Parishad District Vice President Karan Garg stated that while forced conversions by the Muslim community had earlier been reported, Christian groups were now also engaging in such activities. He affirmed that these forced conversions would not be tolerated. Virendra Gautam demanded a thorough investigation and exposure of the entire network. He stated that the Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal teams were active in the area and that those who disrupted Sanatan Dharma (Hinduism) would not be spared. The accused were detained by the police for interrogation following a complaint lodged by Virendra Gautam. During questioning, they confessed to having carried out religious conversion activities in the area for the past one and a half years. A senior police officer stated that the accused were being interrogated to determine their connection to a larger religious conversion network. The station in charge assured strict action against those attempting forced religious conversions.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. The 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 other subcategory selected 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 other subcategory selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected is- Pattern of targeting Hindus. Religious brainwashing essentially means the often subtle and forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up their religious beliefs to 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 which 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 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. In this case, the Christian accused had targeted the Hindu family of Virendra Gautam and his wife, attempting to induce them to convert to Christianity by luring them with several incentives, including money, free education, and land. Such inducements were not acts of kindness or goodwill but deliberate efforts to persuade the victims to abandon their ancestral faith, Hinduism, and adopt Christianity. The use of inducements to manipulate individuals into changing their religion demonstrated coercion and deceit rather than genuine religious exchange. This method of targeting a specific community—Hindus in this context—through monetary and material temptations reflected deep-seated religious animosity. It revealed a prejudiced intent to alter a person’s belief system by exploiting their vulnerabilities, making the act a clear instance of a religiously motivated hate crime. In their attempt to convert the Hindu family, the accused also denigrated the Hindu faith. For Hindus, devotion to their faith and deities represents an expression of spiritual conviction and cultural identity. Therefore, the act of insulting Hinduism is not a mere act of disagreement; it is a profound assault on the spiritual sentiments and dignity of Hindus. Denigrating the Hindu faith in an effort to promote another religion exhibited an attempt to assert the supremacy of one belief system over another, thereby humiliating and demeaning followers of Hinduism. Such behaviour demonstrated deep-rooted religious animosity and intolerance towards the Hindu religion and its adherents, making it a religiously motivated crime. The recovery of Christian religious texts from the accused, which were used to indoctrinate and brainwash Hindus into conversion, further underscored deliberate targeting. Using the teachings and texts of one faith to undermine another and to create confusion in the minds of Hindu believers highlighted a calculated and malicious form of religious coercion rooted in hatred and prejudice. Media reports also stated that not only were Virendra Gautam and his wife targeted, but the accused had been moving around the locality and other parts of Agra, targeting several Hindus for conversion to Christianity. The accused confessed to the police that they had been engaged in such activities for the past one and a half years. This ongoing pattern indicated that the case was not an isolated incident but part of a broader proselytisation strategy aimed at identifying and converting Hindus, thereby showcasing continuing religious hostility. The deliberate focus on Hindus for conversion by the Christian perpetrators demonstrated an intent to strip Hindu believers of their faith, further establishing that this act was a religiously motivated hate crime rooted in intolerance and hostility towards the Hindu community. These instances of targeted proselytisation stemmed from inherent hostility towards the victims’ professed faith, as Abrahamic faiths hold non-adherents as spiritually inferior and dehumanise them until they convert. Such beliefs and practices, when acted upon through coercion and inducement, amount to a religiously motivated crime against Hindus. Since this case meets multiple parameters of a targeted religious attack against Hindus and their faith, it is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker.
Victim Details
Total Victim
2
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 2
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 2
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
