Hindus lured with inducements, targeted for Christian conversion under pretext of curing diseases and superstition
Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh, India 
6 December, 2025
Case Summary
In Narmadapuram, Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh, Hindus belonging to the Schedule Tribe community were targeted for religious conversion by a Christian pastor named Bhagchandra Raj. The accused lured them with promises of curing diseases and also manipulated them using superstition to convert them to Christianity. According to media reports, the Hindu victims were sick and suffering from illnesses. To be relieved of illness and obstacles, some Hindu men and women from Jamunia village gathered at a house near the railway station for a Christian prayer meeting on 7th December 2025. The prayer was conducted by the accused, Bhagchandra Raj. Meanwhile, officials from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, two Hindu organisations, arrived and objected to the prayer. They stated that this prayer meeting was an attempt to force religious conversion. They stated that the villagers were manipulated by false claims of miracles and cures. The Christian accused also claimed that he could ward off evil spirits and used this superstition technique to lure people into conversion. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal filed a complaint at the police station, stating that Pastor Bhagchandra Raj encouraged tribal Hindus to convert to Christianity through financial inducements and claims of 'miracles'. The organisations cited this as a potential violation of the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act 2021. Sohagpur Police Station Officer Usha Maravi stated that the complaint was received and the entire incident was being investigated.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category selected in this case is- 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- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. 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. This case constitutes a clear instance of an anti-Hindu hate crime motivated by religious animosity as the Christian pastor Bhagchandra Raj deliberately targeted vulnerable Hindus from the Schedule Tribe community in Narmadapuram, for forced religious conversion through calculated inducements. These inducements were not acts of kindness or goodwill but predatory methods to exploit the victims' socio-economic vulnerabilities, fulfilling their basic needs only in exchange for abandoning their Hindu faith and converting to Christianity. Such predatory coercion preys on marginalised Hindu communities, stripping them of their religious identity and cultural heritage, which exemplifies deep-seated hatred for Hinduism and the Hindu community, making it a clear instance of religiously motivated crime. The pastor's exploitation extended to luring sick Hindu victims from Jamunia village with false promises of curing illnesses and warding off evil spirits, manipulating their desperation during prayer meetings. This tactic of promising miraculous healing under the guise of superstition directly arm-twisted the vulnerable tribal men and women into submission, using health crises as leverage to brainwash and humiliate them into forsaking Hinduism. By weaponising these pretexts, the perpetrator orchestrated a premeditated assault on the Hindu faith, demonstrating religious hatred through systematic deception designed to dismantle the victims' spiritual convictions and forcibly impose Christianity on them. The organised nature of the pastor's conversion attempt combined financial lures, miracle claims, and superstition to convert Hindus, distinguishing it from an isolated act. This premeditated effort to convert Hindus was motivated by deep-seated hatred for Hinduism and the Hindu community. Such instances of targeted proselytisation stem from inherent hostility towards the victims' professed faith, as Abrahamic doctrines dehumanise non-adherents until they convert, making it a religiously motivated crime against Hindus. Therefore, this case is added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker.
Case Status
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
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