Hindus, including children, lured to convert to Christianity in Dungarpur, Rajasthan
Dungarpur, Rajasthan, India 
6 December, 2025
Case Summary
Tension arose in Bichhiwada village of Dungarpur district when a group of eight individuals was accused of attempting to convert members of the local tribal community to Christianity during a prayer session. The gathering took place in a mud house, where a group of two women, four men, and some children were found praying together. Members of local Hindu organisations arrived at the scene and raised an alarm, accusing the group of orchestrating religious conversion. The police were called, who detained all eight individuals. During the investigation, the police seized Christian religious texts and diaries from the participants. One of the women leading the prayer, identified herself as Sangeeta Kharadi, was questioned by the Hindu activists, who raised doubts about her name and background, stating that converted Christians don’t use Hindu names. Another individual, named Devlal Kharadi, claimed to be an indigenous Hindu, further intensifying the dispute. The police intervened to control the situation and began questioning the detained individuals. They are now investigating whether the prayer meeting was held with the intent to convert people through coercion or inducements, and the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
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: Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. Within this, the tertiary category selected is: Conversion of minor. 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 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 proselytisation, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. The other 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. In Bichhiwada village, tribal Hindu men, women and minor girls were found to be attending a Christian prayer meeting. Currently, it is not clear if the adults were manipulated to convert or not; hence, the presence of minors is the basis for hate crime classification in this case. This incident illustrates how predatory proselytisation functions when the target group is socio-economically vulnerable. Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe populations are among the most economically fragile communities in India. Such communities often become points of entry for missionary bodies that seek religious gains. Although the description mentions a prayer session, such gatherings often function as a setting where inducements are subtly woven into the interaction. In many reported cases, these sessions are presented as opportunities for healing or relief from illness, addiction, financial distress, or personal hardship. Participants are told that attending the prayers or accepting the pastor’s blessings will bring solutions that their own traditions have not provided. When a prayer meeting is framed as a space where problems will be miraculously resolved, it becomes an indirect inducement. Vulnerable individuals, especially from tribal communities who may be facing poverty, poor access to healthcare, or emotional strain, are drawn in by the hope of healing or improvement in their circumstances. Once they participate, they are often encouraged to attribute any perceived relief to the Christian faith. This reinforces the idea that continued benefits depend on shifting religious allegiance. Even if no money or material gifts are exchanged, the promise of healing itself acts as an inducement. It offers something of tangible personal value, recovery from sickness, emotional comfort, or protection from misfortune and uses that promise to influence a change in religious belief. The prayer sessio,n therefore, becomes a strategic setting where emotional and physical vulnerabilities are leveraged to promote conversion. It is further important to note here that the victims included minors, which means the element of consent and genuine change of conscience was missing ab initio. Minors, due to their young age and lack of maturity, are particularly vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. They may not have the ability to fully understand the implications of converting to another religion, and the Christian perpetrator purposely targeted and exploited this vulnerability of the victims. For these reasons, this case is not about a benign attempt at theological discussion. The religious identity of the victims was central to the purpose of the prayer meeting. The context, the private setting and the pattern show that the operation was ideologically motivated and directed at Hindu tribals, including children, with the final aim of their religious conversion. This is precisely the core definition of predatory proselytisation, and therefore it qualifies as an act of religious hatred against Hindus, and has been documented in the tracker. Disclaimer: In this case, it is mentioned that 8 people were taken into custody for questioning, including two women. However, the exact number of perpetrators and victims is not mentioned explicitly. Also, while the report states that minors were present, no information regarding their gender or the number is provided. Due to this lack of clarity, we have kept the victims as unknown with a mention of minor presence. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when an event occurred or when the victim's ordeal began. It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case has specified the exact date when the conversion meetings began. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media: 7th December 2025.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 5 to 10
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
