Case Summary

In Udiawan village of Azamgarh, Hindus were targeted for Christian conversion under the guise of a prayer meeting. Even Christian religious texts were used to brainwash Hindus to convert. Media reports stated that for eight years, Christian prayer meetings were held every Sunday in Udiawan village, organised by a Christian man named Dinesh, a resident of the same village. Over time, many people from other parts of Azamgarh district began attending, and religious conversions took place there. Several Hindu families fell into the trap of conversion, with many villagers of Udiawan converting to Christianity. They were coerced and given Christian religious texts to enforce conversion. The police were alarmed about these conversions, and they raided the site. They found a large number of Hindu men and women who were attending the 'prayer meeting'. Following this, the Christian accused Dinesh was arrested for conducting these illegal religious conversions.

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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. The tertiary category selected is- Pattern of targeting Hindus. 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 clearly represents a hate crime targeting Hindus, expressed through three key aspects that highlight religious animosity. Firstly, the Christian perpetrator used the guise of a prayer meeting to lure Hindu victims. These meetings were not genuine gatherings of worship but deliberate traps designed to deceive Hindus into attending. Following attendance, the victims were coerced and pressured to convert to Christianity. This use of deception and coercion illustrates a direct hostility aimed at undermining the Hindu faith and imposes a form of religious animosity through forced Christian conversion. Secondly, the Hindu victims were systematically brainwashed using Christian religious texts. By employing the religious texts of Christianity to influence followers of the Hindu faith, the accused sought to forcibly integrate Hindus into the Christian religion. This tactic reveals a calculated and religiously motivated effort to disrupt the victims’ existing beliefs through psychological and ideological pressure, constituting a crime born of religious intolerance. Thirdly, the conversions were not isolated incidents but were ongoing for eight years, with multiple Hindu families targeted repeatedly by the accused, Dinesh. This sustained campaign demonstrates that the crime was premeditated, long-planned, and carefully executed to change the religious demography of the region. Such persistent targeting reflects an intent to marginalise Hindus and asserts an environment of religious hostility, further confirming the hate crime nature of these acts. Together, these points emphasise the religious animosity at the core of this case: the deliberate deception and coercion under prayer meetings, the psychological use of religious texts to force conversion, and the long-term, strategic targeting of Hindus by the accused specifically to alter their faith. This clearly delineates the offence as motivated by religious hatred against the Hindu community. Therefore, this case is being added to the hate crime database. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when the victims' ordeal began. However, in this case, the report does not specify the exact date of the crime. It only indicates that the Christian conversions were happening for 8 years. The media report was published on 5th February 2024. Therefore, for documentation, we are using an indicative date- 5th February 2016- as the date of the incident.