Three Christian missionaries caught attempting to deceptively convert Hindus in Pune
Alandi, Maharashtra, India 
31 December, 2022
Case Summary
In the Alandi region of Pune on January 1 2023, three Christians were caught while attempting to forcefully convert people from the Matang community to Christianity. The accused visited the Sathe Nagar area of Alandi and asked a few Hindu families if they read the Bible. Later the accused persons began informing the Hindu persons about Christianity and forced them to convert their religion to Christianity. The video of the incident went viral over social media platforms in which one of the women could be seen praising Christianity. The accused persons also denigrated the Hindu religion. Later one of the women tricked the Hindu persons by offering them red grape juice and made them believe that it was the blood of Jesus Christ. She told them that all their health problems and worries would vanish upon consuming the ‘blood of Jesus Christ.’ The incident came to the fore after one of the local Hindu persons named Uddhav Nagnath Kamble filed a complaint at Alandi Police Station. He said that the accused persons were luring the Hindu persons for money and were forcing them to convert their religion to Christianity. He mentioned in the complaint that accused Sudhakar Suryavanshi and his pals entered the Sathe Nagar locality on January 1 and attempted to convert him and other Matang community people to Christianity.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This particular case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under two subcategories of Predatory Proselytisation because of the various distinct components that demonstrate the perpetrator's bias against the Hindu faith and their deliberate attempt to alienate the victims from their Hindu identity. The first sub-category relevant in this case 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. The second sub-category 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. As evident by the details of the case, both the above methods were employed by the Christian missionaries in their attempt to get the Hindu victims to renounce their professed faith and get into the folds of Christianity. Here, the Christian evangelists 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 promising them financial aid and cures for their ailments - a cure that they could not afford. Since exploiting vulnerabilities for the explicit purpose of conversion is purely based on animosity towards the victim's faith, this case has been documented under the sub-category Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement. Secondly, the reason why the case has been put under the sub-category of 'attempting to convert/converting by denigrating Hinduism' is that the Christian evangelists in this case attempted to convert the Hindu victims by insulting the Hindu faith. Since these conversions are motivated by hatred for Hinduism, they are classified as hate crimes with a religious motive.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
