Hindu students coerced into church visits, prayers and served non-vegetarian meals by missionary school in Telangana
Zahirabad, Telangana, India 
3 December, 2025
Case Summary
Minor Hindu students were targeted for religious conversion at a private school in Telangana, where hostel residents were taken to a Church under false pretences and made to participate in Christian religious activities. The incident took place at Methodist Rural High School in Zaheerabad, located in Sangareddy district. The issue came to light when a student posted a video stating that hostel authorities took Hindu students to a Church on Sundays, describing the trip as a “temple visit.” The student further said that hostel inmates were served meat before the prayer sessions and were compelled to remain present during Church gatherings. He demonstrated one of the Christian prayer songs that students were instructed to sing and said that participation was not optional. The child also stated that parents were neither informed nor asked for consent before their children were taken to Church or involved in religious activities. Following these revelations, a complaint was filed in Telangana against Methodist Rural High School (MRHS) in Zaheerabad. Parents reported that their children had not been allowed to return home on weekends and had instead been taken to the Church. According to them, the school had not informed families about these activities, nor had it sought consent before involving minors in religious practices that did not belong to their faith. Several students later told their parents that they had felt obligated to follow instructions due to the hostel environment and the authority exercised by school staff. Following the complaint, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights issued a notice to the Sangareddy District Collector and directed an inquiry into whether the school had violated the rights of Hindu students. Authorities were asked to examine whether the activities had amounted to religious coercion of minors and whether the school had failed to maintain transparency with parents. Families involved in the complaint stated that their children’s religious autonomy had been compromised. They argued that the students’ personal beliefs and dietary practices had been disregarded and that minors staying in hostels had not been in a position to decline instructions from staff. Local groups noted that similar concerns had arisen in other regions regarding missionary-run institutions, bringing renewed attention to the boundaries between education and religious activity. Parents requested action against the school administration if the inquiry confirmed the allegations. They also urged for clearer guidelines to ensure that schools and hostels did not involve minors in religious activities without explicit parental approval.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category in this case is: Predatory Proselytisation. The first subcategory under this is: Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary categories selected are: Family claims grooming, Victim says was brainwashed/groomed 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. The other subcategory 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 third subcategory selected here 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 reflects a sustained and deliberate effort to push minor Hindu students away from their religious identity through deception, psychological manipulation, and repeated coercive practices. The students were isolated within a hostel environment, prevented from returning home on Sundays, and taken to Church under false pretences by being told they were visiting a Hindu temple. Such acts indicate a calculated attempt to influence belief systems gradually, without any scope for informed or voluntary choice. The testimonies reveal a clear pattern of grooming and brainwashing. The victim himself stated that students were compelled to attend Church services, sing Christian prayer songs, and participate in religious activities unrelated to their faith. Families have confirmed that parents were neither informed nor asked for consent, showing that secrecy and control were central to the process. Repeated exposure to these activities created sustained psychological pressure on the minors. In addition to religious coercion, the students were also forced to consume non vegetarian food, including meat, before prayer sessions. For Hindu children who follow religious dietary practices, this amounted to a direct violation of conscience and bodily autonomy. Compelling minors to abandon their religious food norms formed another layer of harassment intended to weaken resistance and normalise imposed religious practices. It is crucial to note that the victim was a minor, which means the element of meaningful consent or genuine change of conscience was absent from the outset. Minors, due to their age and limited capacity to assess long term consequences, are especially vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. This vulnerability was deliberately exploited by those in positions of authority at the institution, who exercised control over the children’s movement, food, and daily routine. The use of deception, pressure, and restriction against minors underscores that the objective was influence and conversion, not education. Taken together, the victim’s testimony, family accounts, and the structured nature of these acts establish a predatory pattern aimed at altering the religious identity of Hindu children through manipulation, denigration of belief, and sustained harassment. Because the conduct relied on coercion and the exploitation of minors’ vulnerability to achieve religious change, this incident constitutes a clear act of religious hostility and has been documented accordingly in the hate tracker.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
