Hindu men and women targeted for conversion at Christian prayer meeting in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh
Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India 
27 October, 2025
Case Summary
A case of religious conversion was reported again in the Sarkanda area of Bilaspur. A large group of men and women had gathered in a house in Bahtarai for a prayer meeting, during which conversion efforts were being made. Upon receiving information, members of the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad rushed to the spot and tried to stop the conversion attempt. This led to a heated argument between the two sides, causing tension in the area. The activists had then informed the police, who soon arrived and brought the situation under control. The police were investigating the incident at the time of reporting.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category in this case is: Predatory Proselytisation. The subcategory under this is: Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. 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 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 reflects a recurring and deeply concerning pattern in which Hindu families are subtly targeted for religious conversion under the guise of prayer meetings. The context and sequence of events here bear striking resemblance to numerous past incidents where “conferences”, “healing sessions”, or “prayer meetings” were later exposed as covert proselytising exercises. These events often begin as innocuous community or social gatherings but gradually evolve into platforms for indoctrination, where faith-based manipulation and emotional grooming are employed to influence vulnerable individuals, particularly from lower-income or socially marginalised Hindu families. The choice of targeting Hindu families underlines the religious animosity inherent in such operations. Across several states, including Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha, investigations have revealed that conversion networks often rely on creating psychological dependency through promises of healing, education, or financial aid. The indoctrination process begins subtly, aiming to induce disaffection towards Hindu practices by portraying them as superstitious, while glorifying the alternative faith as a path to salvation. Over time, this erodes the spiritual confidence of the victims and alienates them from their roots, their deities, and their community. Such systematic manipulation, though not always overtly violent, constitutes a slow form of cultural erasure, targeting Hindus for their religious identity. Here, the activists from VHP and Bajrang Dal intervened based on community intelligence and the recurring pattern of such events being used as cover for conversion efforts in Chhattisgarh. This pattern itself is evidence of intent and method. The targeting of Hindu families, under deceptive religious pretexts, reflects underlying hostility toward the Hindu faith and its followers. It is therefore classified as a hate crime driven by religious motivation. 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. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media: 28 October 2025.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
