Tribal Hindu villagers targeted; induced to convert to Christianity under the guise of prayer meetings
Champua, Odisha, India 
10 June, 2025
Case Summary
In Balabhadrapur village, located in the Champua block of Keonjhar district, Odisha, tribal Hindus were being induced to convert to Christianity through illegal conversion activities following the construction of an unauthorised church on government land. According to reports, local tribal villagers stated that a man named Makru Munda constructed a house under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) on government land in Balabhadrapur, a village situated along the Odisha-Jharkhand border. After the house was built, Munda removed the PMAY signboard and replaced it with one reading “church,” thereby transforming the residence into a site for Christian prayer meetings. Subsequently, several Christian missionary members began visiting the area to organise prayer meetings and persuade vulnerable tribal Hindu villagers to abandon their original faith and adopt Christianity. The local Hindu villagers strongly opposed these proselytisation activities, stating that they endangered communal harmony and led to the misuse of government welfare schemes. As tensions escalated, the police were informed and they arrived at the scene, successfully de-escalating the situation through dialogue and negotiation. Locals expressed anger over these proselytisation activities, asserting that the house, built with public funds on government land, was being misused for illegal conversion activities. They said that these conversions were being carried out under the guise of social and religious gatherings, which were damaging the social fabric of the village. The locals also stated that they had repeatedly raised concerns about these unauthorised conversion events with the district administration, but the authorities failed to take any action against such illegal practices. This perceived inaction emboldened the perpetrators to continue their unchecked proselytisation activities. Hindu organisations, such as the Hindu Jagran Manch, were informed about the issue, and they swiftly arrived at the scene. Tanmay Dash, the Odisha State Organising Secretary of the Hindu Jagran Manch, condemned the incident and stated that the misuse of government infrastructure for conversion purposes had become increasingly frequent in recent times. Dash said, “It is unfortunate that buildings constructed with government funds on public land are being converted into religious centres aimed at converting tribal people. This not only violates the law but also creates disharmony in peaceful tribal communities.” The Hindu Jagran Manch demanded stringent action from the administration to curb such unlawful proselytisation activities and restore communal harmony in the region.
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- 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 subcategory selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, and within it, 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 constitutes a religiously motivated hate crime, as Hindu villagers were systematically targeted with the aim of converting them to Christianity. The use of a prayer gathering as a cover suggests that the perpetrators involved were employing indirect methods to lure or convince people into conversion, possibly targeting vulnerable individuals by exploiting their emotional, social, or religious needs. This is not an isolated incident; rather, it is part of a broader trend in which Christian missionaries systematically target vulnerable Hindu populations for religious conversion. Several such instances involve inducements and the misuse of welfare schemes, exploiting the socio-economic vulnerabilities of Hindus to erode their traditional faith and identity. The illegal appropriation of public land to establish a church further aggravates the sense of injustice, as it is an affront to the collective sentiments of the Hindu community. These instances highlight that such cases are not isolated, but rather a premeditated effort to convert Hindus to Christianity, making this a case of religiously motivated crime against socially and economically vulnerable Hindus. Locals also stated that such conversions were happening almost on a regular basis in the area. Such repeated actions, especially when they involve inducement or the illegal use of public resources, are widely recognised as forms of hate crime because they are directed at undermining the religious and cultural identity of Hindus through manipulation and unlawful means. The deliberate targeting of Hindus for conversion, coupled with the illegal establishment of religious infrastructure, signals a systematic attempt to alter the religious demographic of the area and strip Hindus of their faith. These instances of targeted proselytisation activities stem from inherent hostility towards the victim's professed faith since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent to the faith is subject to being dehumanised till they convert. Since such predatory actions stem from doctrinal animosity towards the Hindu faith and its adherents, this case is being documented as a religiously motivated hate crime and included in the hate crime database. Disclaimer: Media reports do not specify the exact number of Christian missionaries involved; they only mention one Christian individual who converted his house into a church. Therefore, the Hinduphobia Tracker has conservatively recorded the perpetrator count as ‘1’, though the actual number of perpetrators must be higher.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
