Hindu family lured to convert to Christianity by offering money and job

Case ID : 5954b43 | Location : Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 5 January, 2025
Case ID : 5954b43
location Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
date 5 January, 2025
Hindu family lured to convert to Christianity by offering money and job
Predatory Proselytisation
Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement
Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Case Summary

A Kerala-based Christian couple named Johnny and his wife Shaili were arrested by the police in Indore for luring a labourer Hindu family with 6 lakh rupees and a job to convert their religion to Christianity. Gauribai, a member of that Hindu family lodged a complaint against the Christian couple and stated that Johnny and Shaili had promised to give 6 lakh rupees, improve the financial condition of the family and give good jobs if they converted to Christianity. They came to her house and started preaching to the entire family about Christianity. They were encouraging the children in the Hindu family to recite biblical hymns and prayers. The Hindu Jagran Manch handed over the Christian couple to the police and supported the Hindu family in filing a police complaint.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the category of- Predatory Proselytisation. Under this, the 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 category selected here 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. Here, some Christian evangelists attempted to convert a Hindu family through inducements. The use of inducements to convert individuals is indeed a common tactic in efforts to influence or manipulate vulnerable individuals into changing their faith. This approach often targets economically disadvantaged groups, offering material benefits such as food, money, education or jobs in exchange for conversion. It creates a form of dependency that can alienate individuals from their original faith, as they may feel compelled to convert not out of genuine belief but due to immediate needs or financial pressures. Here too, the Christian evangelists adopted a similar tactic of exploiting the vulnerability of the Hindus to convert them to Christianity. Since exploiting vulnerabilities for the explicit purpose of conversion is purely based on animosity towards the victim's faith, this case has been categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime. Further, the Christian couple were attempting to brainwash the children of the Hindu family by praising Christianity and encouraging them to recite biblical hymns and prayers. It is important to mention here that the victims included minors, which essentially means a lack of consent and a genuine change of conscience. It is a well-established fact that children are more susceptible to manipulation since they are still developing emotionally, cognitively, and socially. Their brains are not fully matured, making them more vulnerable to influence and less capable of critically evaluating information. Moreover, subtle manipulation tactics can be difficult to detect, especially when employed by trusted authority figures in positions of influence. This makes it challenging for parents, to identify and address instances of religious manipulation in schools. In this case, the accused subtly influenced the children by offering them lucrative incentives. This act of tempting the children to give up their faith and adopt an alien faith reflects animosity towards the Hindu faith. Since the details of the case clearly suggest that the crime was committed with the specific intention of alienating the victims from their Hindu identity and harbouring bias against the Hindu faith, this case is classified as a religiously motivated hate crime and added to the tracker.

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Case Status


Arrested

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Perpetrators Details

Perpetrators


Christian Extremists

Perpetrators Range


From 2 To 5

Perpetrators Gender


both

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