Poor Hindu families lured with money for Christian conversion by foreign missionaries in Ghaziabad
Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India 
16 March, 2024
Case Summary
In the Kaushambi police station area of Ghaziabad, Hindus were lured with money to convert to Christianity during an event organised by Christian missionaries, including foreign nationals from Korea and America. Books promoting Christianity were distributed with the intent to create confusion about religion. Hindu organisations reached the venue, confronted the organisers, and stopped the conversion activity, leading to a ruckus. They later lodged a complaint with the police, stating that outsiders had been distributing pamphlets promoting Christianity among poor and hardworking Hindu families in the Kaushambi area. One of the pamphlets carried the line “Remember the sacrifice of Jesus” and cited Luke 22:19 of the Bible: “Do the same in my memory.” It invited people to gather at 7:45 pm on 24 March 2024 at Park Crown Banquet Hall, Kaushambi, to commemorate the death of Jesus. Another pamphlet advertised a special Bible-based speech titled “The dead will be alive again. Not a dream, but a reality.” It also directed readers to the website jw.org and included a barcode. The copyright notice on the material mentioned the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, Pennsylvania, USA. Other pamphlets distributed during the event carried provocative questions such as “What will the world be like after the reign of Satan ends?” and “Will the dead get life again?”
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. The sub-category relevant in this case 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 sub-category relevant is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, and the tertiary categories selected are- Pattern of targeting Hindus and 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 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 Ghaziabad event involved luring poor Hindu families with money and material inducements in exchange for abandoning their faith and embracing Christianity. This tactic directly exploits the economic vulnerability of Hindus, reducing their sacred identity to a commodity that can be traded for monetary benefits. By targeting financially weak families, the missionaries sought to sever their ties with Hindu dharma, not through conviction or open debate, but through manipulation of their material needs. Such inducement-driven conversion is an act of exploitation, preying on poverty, and is therefore a religiously motivated hate crime. It violates both the dignity of the Hindu victims and the sanctity of their religious identity. The distribution of pamphlets containing biblical verses, eschatological questions, and provocative claims like “What will the world be like after the reign of Satan ends?” reflects a systematic effort at religious grooming. These texts were carefully framed to create doubt about Hindu beliefs and subtly implant Christian theology as the only true path. Such propaganda is not a one-time inducement but a deliberate attempt at religious brainwashing and manipulation. The repeated messaging—through leaflets, speeches, and foreign missionary presence—was designed to emotionally and psychologically distance Hindus from their own dharma. This subtle indoctrination is predatory in nature, and since it specifically targets Hindus, it qualifies as a hate crime against the community. The choice of venue, the poor Hindu families targeted, and the timing of the event (linked with Christian religious observances) demonstrate a clear pattern of targeting Hindus for conversion. The missionaries did not seek to preach universally or in neutral contexts, but specifically reached out to Hindu communities with the calculated aim of detaching them from their ancestral faith. The presence of foreign nationals from Korea and America underscores the organised, international scale of such predatory proselytisation campaigns. This case is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern where Hindus are consistently singled out as “targets” for conversion efforts. Such systematic targeting on the basis of religious identity is itself an act of hostility and therefore a hate crime. It is important to note here that some of the victims were minors and incapable of providing informed consent to such conversion activities. 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 mature, making them more vulnerable. Such acts are not merely criminal in nature; they are ideologically charged, revealing religious prejudice and a calculated intent to alter the religious identity of minors without their volition. This case demonstrates a calculated strategy of targeting those who are less able to resist or understand the long-term implications of conversion, making it a significant case of religious-motivated hate crime.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
