Hindus lured with inducements and manipulated to convert to Christianity in Chhattisgarh

Case ID : 8da17c2 | Location : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 8 November, 2025

Case ID : 8da17c2

Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India

8 November, 2025

Hindus lured with inducements and manipulated to convert to Christianity in Chhattisgarh

Predatory Proselytisation

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Conversion of minor

Case Summary

In Kirari village under the jurisdiction of Masturi Police Station in Bilaspur district, Chhattisgarh, Hindus were targeted for forced Christian conversion by a Christian woman named Jawahar Lal Basanti. According to media reports, this incident took place on 9th November 2025 at around 12 PM. The Christian accused organised a prayer meeting at her residence. Around twenty-five Hindus, including men, women and minor girls, were summoned there and enticed with inducements to convert to Christianity. The accused also used manipulation and indoctrination techniques to lure people into conversion. Upon learning about the incident, members of Hindu organisations held a protest and informed the police. Acting on a complaint filed by Punendra Kumar Sharma, also known as Baba Sharma (aged 39), a resident of Masturi and the district head of a cow protection group (Gau-Rakshaks), the police registered a case against the accused woman under Section 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. Within this, the subcategory 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. Another subcategory selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. Within this, the tertiary category selected is- Conversion of minor. 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 incident in Kirari village was a clear case of a religiously motivated hate crime. Hindu men, women and minor girls were lured with inducements to convert to Christianity—an act that constituted coercion rather than choice. Offering inducements under the pretext of religious conversion was not an act of kindness or goodwill; it was a calculated attempt to exploit the financial, emotional and social vulnerabilities of the Hindu victims. Such coercive tactics violated their freedom of belief and targeted their faith identity, turning vulnerability into a tool of conversion. Conversion through inducements, therefore, reflected a form of hate-driven exploitation, where religion was used as a means to devalue and destabilise another community’s faith. The Hindu victims were systematically targeted through manipulation, brainwashing and indoctrination designed to erode their religious identity and replace it with another belief system. These methods were not mere persuasion but deliberate psychological pressure that aimed to detach individuals from their ancestral religion. The use of emotional exploitation and mental conditioning to forcefully influence people towards conversion revealed deep-seated religious intolerance. Such manipulation stripped the victims of agency and dignity, reflecting animosity towards their Hindu beliefs and community identity. It's also important to note that the victims also included Hindu minor girls. This means the element of consent and genuine change of conscience was missing ab initio. Minors, due to their young age and lack of maturity, are particularly vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. They may not have the ability to fully understand the implications of converting to another religion, and the Christian perpetrator purposely targeted and exploited this vulnerability of the minor victims. Since this case exemplifies the use of coercion and manipulation to achieve religious conversion, it is a blatant act of a religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus. These instances of targeted proselytisation activities stem from inherent hostility towards the victims' professed faith since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent to their faith is subject to being dehumanised till they convert, making it a religiously motivated crime against Hindus. Therefore, this case is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: Media reports stated that around 25 Hindu villagers, including men and women, were targeted for conversion in Kirari village of Bilaspur district, Chhattisgarh, but no gender-wise breakdown was provided. For documentation clarity, the Hinduphobia Tracker has applied a proportional demographic estimate based on India’s Census 2011 and NFHS-5 (2019–21) rural population data. Accordingly, the 25 participants were estimated as 13 men (52%) and 12 women (48%), reflecting a balanced gender distribution consistent with rural Hindu family structures. As the age-wise segregation was also not specified in the media report, the Hinduphobia Tracker has used a proportional demographic estimate derived from the same data sources. Accordingly, the 25 participants were estimated as 18 adults (72%) and 7 children (28%).