Hindu men and women coerced to convert to Christianity with promises of financial and health benefits

Case ID : 6e6deb1 | Location : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 9 November, 2024

Case ID : 6e6deb1

Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, India

9 November, 2024

Hindu men and women coerced to convert to Christianity with promises of financial and health benefits

Predatory Proselytisation

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Case Summary

On 10th November, a case of forced Christian conversion came to the fore in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. Members of Hindu organisations, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, gathered outside a house where the alleged conversion was taking place in the name of mass prayers. They accused the organisers of the event of luring Hindu men and women to convert to Christianity with promises of financial and health benefits. Over 100 people, including women and children, were present at the event. The police were called by the Hindu organisations to stop the “prayer meeting”. All the women and children present at the event were evacuated from the three-storey building. Two persons, identified as Saul Naga and Indrajeet Khare, were arrested by the police, while ten others were detained for questioning for their alleged involvement in the forced conversion.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This particular case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under four subcategories of Predatory Proselytisation because of the various distinct components that demonstrate the perpetrator's bias against the Hindu faith and his deliberate attempt to alienate the victim from his Hindu identity. Further, based on case details, the sub-category under 'Predatory Proselytisation' 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 accused in this instance were attempting to exploit a specific vulnerability of the victims who were in all likelihood also economically backward. The missionaries exploited the poor victims by offering them money and promising them cures for their ailments - a cure that they either could not afford or for incurable diseases. Since exploiting vulnerabilities for the explicit purpose of conversion is purely based on animosity towards the victim's faith, this case has been categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime and added to the database. Disclaimer: The details of this case reveal that more than 100 people were baptised by the accused, however, since it does not mention the exact number of victims, we have conservatively added 100 as the victim counts in the database.