Hindu youth lured to convert to Christianity through financial aid and job; abused and threatened when he refused
Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh, India 
29 December, 2024
Case Summary
A man in Uttar Pradesh's Fatehpur attempted to coerce residents into converting to Christianity. The accused, identified as 47-year-old Shivbadan, faced a complaint by Rohit Dixit, who stated that Shivbadan and his associates pressured him to convert, offering financial aid and a job at Mission Hospital. Dixit alleged that when he refused, Shivbadan abused him and threatened to file a false case against him. An FIR was registered against Shivbadan and seven others based on Dixit’s complaint. Subsequently, Shivbadan was assaulted by a group of men, his head was shaved, and he was paraded through the village. Shivbadan alleged that he was targeted by upper-caste men as punishment for converting to Christianity. However, he denied the conversion accusations, stating that he no longer practised Christianity and called the FIR against him baseless. Shivbadan, out on bail in a two-year-old anti-conversion case, filed a counter-complaint against Rohit Dixit and three others, including Lavlesh Singh and Somkaran, reportedly associated with Bajrang Dal. He also accused several unidentified individuals of attacking him. An FIR was registered against them based on his complaint. According to Additional Superintendent of Police VS Mishra, an investigation was underway, and no arrests had been made. The case involved allegations of forced conversion and counterclaims of violence.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Predatory Proselytisation. Within this, the first sub-category 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 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. In this subcategory, we would only include cases where the victim was harassed, threatened or coerced to convert. Cases where attempts were made to convert but the victim resisted would be documented in another sub-category. 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. The third sub-category selected here is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, under which the tertiary category of- Pattern of targeting Hindus, has also been selected, based on case details. 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 accused, attempted to entice the Hindu victim with offers of well-paying jobs and financial assistance. Young people who are looking for job stability and a comfortable life are typically drawn in by these alluring offers and agree to comply with requests in exchange for the benefits. However, here, when the Hindu victim refused to accede to the conversion demands, he was tortured and threatened by the accused. The underlying motivation of predatory proselytisation itself is animosity towards the professed faith of the victim. In this case, there was violence involved in the pressure exerted to forcefully convert the Hindu man. Further, the central aim of the perpetrator was to disenfranchise the Hindu victim from his professed faith. Since the central motivation is religion, this case has been added as a hate crime. It is important to note here, that the accused has a history of involvement in forced religious conversions, as evidenced by his bail status in a prior anti-conversion case. This past behaviour indicates a pattern of targeting Hindus through coercion and manipulation. Therefore, this case has also been categorised under the "Pattern of targeting Hindus," emphasising the accused's repeated attempts to undermine the faith of his victims through unethical conversion practices. Disclaimer: The case details indicate that the perpetrator targeted multiple Hindus for religious conversion. However, as specific information is available for only one victim, the victim count in the tracker has been conservatively recorded as one for the sake of accuracy.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 1
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 1
Case Status
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
