Hindu families forcibly converted to Christianity by use of inducements and false promises of curing illnesses

Case ID : 8da1982 | Location : Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Wed, 18 November, 2020

Case ID : 8da1982

Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh, India

18 November, 2020

Hindu families forcibly converted to Christianity by use of inducements and false promises of curing illnesses

Predatory Proselytisation

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Victim says was brainwashed/groomed

Pattern of targeting Hindus

Case Summary

In Balola village, located in the Para region of Jhabua district, Madhya Pradesh, forty Hindus from five families were forcibly converted to Christianity through inducements and false promises of curing diseases. According to reports, the incident came to light on 19th November 2025, when the victims of these five families undertook Gharwapsi, a reconversion ceremony to Hinduism, which involves Hindus forcibly converted to other faiths returning to their original religion. This ceremony took place at the village's Hanuman temple. Some of the victims were identified as Madia, son of Jubansingh Tokariyan; Jitendra, son of Dungarsingh Singad; Kamu, son of Gulsingh Baria; Shankar, son of Ramesh Singad; and Pidu, son of Bhuru Damor. They gathered together, embraced Hinduism, and returned to the Hindu society. The victims stated that they had been converted to Christianity five years earlier, in 2020, primarily due to illness and other reasons, but had now willingly returned to Hinduism. The local Hindu residents and activists stated that Christian missionaries in the area had lured the victims with incentives and brainwashed them with fake promises of curing illnesses to convert them to Christianity. The victims also said that after conversion, over time, they realised they were drifting away from their cultural identity, which led them to collectively decide to return to their original faith, Hinduism.

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. The other subcategory selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary categories selected are- 'Victim says was brainwashed/groomed' and '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 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. This case unequivocally represents a religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus due to the coercive tactics employed by the Christian perpetrators to forcibly convert Hindu individuals. These perpetrators utilised inducements, offering material rewards alongside false promises of curing illnesses, to compel Hindus into abandoning their faith and converting to Christianity. This use of inducements was neither an act of kindness nor goodwill; instead, it was a calculated exploitation of the victims' vulnerabilities, deliberately designed to break their resistance and enforce conversion. Such exploitation and coercion constitute direct, hostile attacks aimed at stripping Hindu victims of their religious identity, categorising this incident as a flagrant and egregious example of anti-Hindu hate crime. Furthermore, the perpetrators engaged in psychological manipulation by promising healing, an act tantamount to brainwashing. Exploiting personal vulnerabilities through manipulative tactics undermines an individual’s religious autonomy and free will, making it a profound violation and thus a clear instance of a religiously motivated offence. This systematic manipulation demonstrates a blatant disregard for the victims’ rights to choose and practice their faith freely, cementing this crime’s character as motivated by religious hatred. This calculated campaign targeted five Hindu families, encompassing nearly forty individuals. The scale and organisation of the conversions demonstrate that these were not isolated incidents but part of a deliberate and premeditated strategy to erode the Hindu faith and shift the religious demographics within the region. This targeted approach starkly reveals religious animosity and malice directed specifically at Hindus, unequivocally underscoring the hate-based nature of this crime. Moreover, the profound alienation, vulnerability, and spiritual void experienced by the Hindu victims following their forced conversion illustrate the severe emotional and psychological damage inflicted. The victims’ eventual return to Hinduism through the Gharwapsi ceremony illuminates the distress caused by coercive conversions, reaffirming the intrinsic harm such acts cause to individuals' religious rights and identities. Their collective decision to revert encapsulates the personal and religious trauma such forced conversions inflict, exemplifying a deeply rooted religious hate crime. Ultimately, such predatory proselytisation practices originate from doctrinal hostility towards Hinduism. Abrahamic faiths foster disdain for non-adherents until they convert, forming the ideological basis of this anti-Hindu sentiment. This case stands as a clear example of doctrinal enmity directed at Hinduism. Given these factors, the incident has been duly documented in the Hinduphobia Tracker’s Hate Crime Database. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on the date of occurrence of the crime rather than the media report date. However, in this case, media reports do not specify when the victim's ordeals began; they only mention that forced conversions occurred five years ago, in 2020, and that the gharwapasi event took place on 19th November 2025. For documentation purposes, 19th November 2020 is selected as an indicative date to estimate the beginning of the victims' ordeal. This date selection is solely for record-keeping and does not imply a definite start date beyond available information.