Hindu villagers offered inducements and made to abandon Hindu deities for forced religious conversion by Christian missionaries
Dharampur, Gujarat, India 
17 December, 2025
Case Summary
In the Gadina village of Dharampur, Gujarat, Hindu villagers were lured with inducements for religious conversion by Christian missionaries. The missionaries also brainwashed Hindus against Hindu deities, persuading them to abandon Hindu worship. According to reports, this incident came to light when Hindu leaders in the Gadina village submitted representations to the Dharampur Mamlatdar’s office highlighting that the population of the village was around 1,400, and not a single resident was officially recorded as Christian in government records. Nevertheless, a church had been constructed in the village, where regular programmes were organised, and Hindu villagers were routinely compelled to participate. During such programmes, missionaries and pastors offered inducements, claimed to cure illnesses through miracles, promised money, and propagated the Christian faith, encouraging Hindu villagers to convert to Christianity. A local leader named Pilubhai Chaudhary stated that most churches had been built illegally, without obtaining any permission, and that these churches then became centres for illegal conversion activities. He further revealed that once local Hindu tribals began attending these churches, they were gradually discouraged from worshipping Hindu deities, visiting temples, or engaging with traditional places of worship, leading to a complete detachment from their religious and cultural identity over time. Locals observed that as one moved away from Dharampur town into more remote tribal areas, the number of churches visibly increased, with churches constructed across several villages. In the past, multiple instances had emerged from these very areas where churches were built illegally on government land without obtaining statutory permissions. Village leaders further pointed out that in several cases, Hindus who underwent conversion continued to be officially recorded as Hindus in government records and continued to avail state welfare benefits. This, they explained, accounted for the contradiction between the rapid mushrooming of large churches in multiple villages and the negligible Christian population reflected in official data. By submitting the memorandum, Hindu residents demanded that permissions for religious programmes be restricted strictly to registered Christians and that authorities disclose the number of officially recorded Christians in any village where such permissions were granted.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Predatory Proselytisation. Within it, the sub-category 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. The other 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 other sub-category selected is - Attempting to convert/converting by denigrating Hinduism. In several cases, Hindus are converted or an attempt is made to convert Hindus by denigrating their faith, Hinduism. In such cases, the Hindus associate with the non-Hindu perpetrators often by choice and then, the attempt to convert them by insulting their faith, showing the faith down etc begins. An example of this would be a non-Hindu gathering where the Hindus are attending the gathering of their own free will. However, once they attend the gathering, there is an explicit attempt to convert them by abusing their faith and hailing the faith of the perpetrator. The denigration of the Hindu faith is often based on misrepresentation of the Hindu faith, its doctrine and scriptures and insult to espoused traditions if not blatant lies about Hindu beliefs and ways. Such conversions or attempts at conversions are driven by animosity towards the Hindu faith and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. This case was added to the tracker because tribal Hindu residents of Gadina village were targeted and offered inducements for religious conversion by Christian missionaries. Firstly, missionaries organised regular programmes where Hindu villagers were compelled to participate, where they were brainwashed for religious conversion. What were presented as prayer meetings or community programmes functioned in practice as structured platforms for religious conversion and propagation. These were not genuine community prayers but calculated efforts to exploit the trust of Hindus and manipulate them into abandoning their faith. By conducting such gatherings, missionaries sought to manipulate vulnerable Hindus, taking advantage of their emotional and social circumstances to push them towards conversion. Secondly, during such programs missionaries and pastors offered inducements, made assurances of miraculous healing and promised financial assistance in order to push people towards conversion. Offering incentives or making false healing promises, especially when directed at vulnerable individuals in need, shows that these incentives are not acts of kindness or charity. Instead, they are calculated moves to exploit vulnerable Hindus because of their religion. By providing inducements or promising healing in exchange for conversion, the accused was effectively blackmailing those who might have been desperate for assistance or hope. Such instances are seen in many cases where members of Christian missionary groups target socially and economically vulnerable Hindus to further their agenda of religious conversions. This form of coercion strips people of their agency and dignity and results in coerced conversions. These are not random or isolated incidents, but rather cases deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims. Thirdly, tribal Hindu villagers were repeatedly told to distance themselves from Hindu deities, temples, and traditional forms of worship. This went beyond routine proselytisation and amounted to an intentional denigration of Hindu beliefs, aimed at weakening the victims’ attachment to their religion and creating doubt and inferiority regarding their own faith. Such messaging directly targeted the core religious and cultural identity of Hindu tribals and fostered an atmosphere of disrespect towards Hindu deities and traditions. These acts of insulting Hinduism stem from Christian theology, which harbours disdain and hatred for polytheistic faiths, and which categorises Hindus as ‘polytheists’, thereby fostering hatred against them. Such actions make the religiously motivated nature of the crime even more evident. The cumulative nature of these activities demonstrated targeted action against Hindu tribals as a collective group. The sustained focus on vulnerable tribal Hindus, the use of inducements and healing narratives, and the gradual discouragement of Hindu worship indicated a deliberate attempt to sever victims from their religious and cultural roots. Conversion in this context was driven by religious animosity and exploitation of socio-economic vulnerability rather than personal belief, constituting a religiously motivated offence directed specifically against the Hindu tribal community. The Christian faith, by its very theological foundations, places a strong emphasis on proselytisation. In pursuit of conversion objectives, Christian evangelists often employ unethical means, ranging from psychological pressure and misinformation to inducements such as money or jobs. These tactics are designed not as acts of charity but as tools to engineer religious change under the guise of social upliftment, particularly among vulnerable and underprivileged communities. Given that this case meets the parameters of a religiously motivated crime, it is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when an event occurred or when the victim's ordeal began. It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case has specified the exact date when the conversion activities began. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media, 18 December 2025.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
