Poor tribal Hindus lured into conversion, offered inducements under guise of healing meeting by Christian missionaries
Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, India 
10 June, 2025
Case Summary
In Baidhi village of Balrampur district, Chhattisgarh, around 200 poor tribal Hindus were being converted to Christianity through inducements and fake healing sessions, Around 200 tribal Hindus had gathered for a healing meeting organised by Christian missionaries. During the gathering, attendees were lured with promises of free medical treatment, education, and government jobs for religious conversion. They were told that their diseases would be healed, and financial troubles would be solved if they convert. Police immediately reached the spot and disrupted the meeting. Upon investigation, it was revealed that inducements were being offered in the form of government jobs and social welfare benefits to facilitate religious conversion. As of the date of writing this report, police have arrested two accused named Sandeep Bhagat and Parsu Beck. A case has been registered under Section 299 BNS of the Indian Penal Code and Section 4 of the Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Act, and the investigation was ongoing.
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, with the tertiary category being: - 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 second 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. This case has been added to the tracker because around 200 Hindus, belonging to humble Hindu families, were being lured to convert to Christianity. They were offered inducements such as free education, medical treatment and government jobs and were told that their diseases would be cured and financial problems solved. Offering incentives to encourage conversion, particularly when directed at individuals who are vulnerable or 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 to Hindus to change their faith, the accused were effectively blackmailing those who might have been desperate for assistance. 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 enforces forced conversions. These are not random or isolated incidents, but rather cases deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims. This pattern reflects the classic structure of predatory proselytisation wherein the trust, desperation, or hope of the victim is deliberately leveraged. The use of healing meetings as a facade for conversion exemplifies psychological grooming and subtle indoctrination. These gatherings serve not only to manipulate the perception of the targeted Hindus but also to create an emotional and psychological dependency on the perpetrators, positioning them as benefactors and saviours. This repeated and systematic manipulation is a symbol of religious grooming, where the end goal is the erosion of the victim’s Hindu identity. 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. This is not an isolated incident but part of a structured and ideologically driven campaign that targets Hindus across various regions, especially in impoverished and tribal belts. The sustained use of inducement, grooming, and manipulation to achieve religious conversions illustrates a deeply rooted hostility toward the Hindu faith and community, making this a clear instance of a religiously motivated hate crime
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
