Poor Hindu villagers lured with food and promise of health benefits to convert to Christianity in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh
Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India 
25 October, 2025
Case Summary
In Bilaspur district’s Masturi area, Sumit Singh of Masturi village filed a complaint on 26th October 2025, stating that a Gorelal Tandon and his wife, Sahodra, were manipulating poor villagers in Hiri village to convert to Christianity by offering food and financial incentives under the guise of prayer meetings. Acting on the report, the police arrived at the scene and found a meeting underway with around 60 to 70 villagers present, including women and children. The preachers were manipulating the simple villagers with fraudulent claims that, through conversion, they would receive health benefits and all problems would be solved. Locals stated that similar gatherings had been happening for several days. The incident caused tension in the village, and the police registered a case and began an investigation, assuring that all sides would be heard before taking action. The police arrested the couple along with 4 others involved in the scheme.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The case has been added to the tracker under the prime category- Predatory proselytisation. Under this, the first 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 second sub-category selected is: Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation, or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected is: Conversion of minors. 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 that 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 the 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 proselytisation, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. This case has been added to the tracker because Hindu villagers in Hirri village were lured and offered inducements for religious conversion by the Christian perpetrators. The accused offered food and promised miraculous health benefits in an effort to coerce people into converting to Christianity. Firstly, offering such inducements or making false promises, especially when directed at vulnerable and economically weaker individuals, is not an act of kindness or charity. It is a calculated effort to exploit their vulnerability because of their religious identity. By providing inducements 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. Secondly, the conversion activities were being carried out under the guise of a prayer meeting. The act of inviting Hindus to a prayer gathering, while simultaneously conducting conversion activities, demonstrates that these meetings were not genuine religious sessions or community prayers. Instead, they were calculated efforts to exploit the trust and social cohesion within the Hindu community by disguising conversion attempts as routine gatherings. 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 are not random or isolated incidents, but premeditated efforts to undermine the Hindu faith, persuade Hindus to discard their own faith, and convert to Christianity. Such acts were deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims, and thus, this case was added to the tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when an event occurred or when the victim's ordeal began, rather than when it was reported by the media. It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case has specified the exact date when the conversion activities began, though it is mentioned that the conversion activities were going on for the last few days. Hence, in this instance, we have considered the date of filing of complaint as the reference. Disclaimer: The report states that approximately 60 to 70 individuals attended the prayer meeting but does not specify an exact number. For documentation purposes, the victim count has been conservatively recorded as 70. It also mentions that men, women, and children were among those present, though no specific gender or age breakdown is provided. Therefore, based on India’s near-balanced gender ratio (943 females per 1,000 males as per the 2011 Census), the count has been evenly divided as 35 males and 35 females. While the report notes that minors were also coerced into conversion, the absence of a stated figure means minors have not been classified separately in this record.
Victim Details
Total Victim
70
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 35
- Female 35
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 70
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 70
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 5 to 10
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
