Two women lured into conversion under guise of offering prayers by two Christian evangelists

Case ID : 90a05bb | Location : Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 19 January, 2025
Case ID : 90a05bb
location Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
date 19 January, 2025
Two women lured into conversion under guise of offering prayers by two Christian evangelists
Predatory Proselytisation
Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Case Summary

Sindhora police arrested two Christian evangelists Nandlal and Kaushal Patel under the "Operation Chakravyuh" campaign on charges of unlawful religious conversion. The arrests took place on January 19, 2025, near Deendaspur Chatti during a routine check. The police recovered a Bible, three prayer books, and a small diary from their possession. During interrogation, the accused admitted to posing as religious gurus and persuading people to convert to Christianity under the guise of offering prayers. They confessed to converting two women from the Basantpur area on the same day. A case was registered against them under FIR No. 18/2025, invoking Section 3/5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. Nandlal was identified as a resident of Majhwa, Sindhora, and Kaushal Patel as a resident of Narayanpur Bhojubir, Shivpur, Varanasi.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the category of- Predatory proselytisation. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. 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. In this instance, the tactics employed by the two accused evangelists Nandlal and Kaushal Patel to pose as religious gurus and exploit the trust of individuals through the guise of offering prayers exemplify grooming and manipulation. By leveraging their pretence of spiritual guidance, they subtly indoctrinated their targets, encouraging them to abandon their existing religious beliefs in favour of Christianity. Their actions indicate a calculated effort to exploit emotional, spiritual, or social vulnerabilities, leading to conversions under undue influence rather than genuine consent. The confession of converting two women on the same day demonstrates their focused approach to targeting individuals for proselytisation. This pattern of grooming and subtle coercion is a hallmark of predatory proselytisation, making the selected category and sub-category a precise classification of the case.

Victim Details

Total Victim

2

Deceased

0


Gender

  • Male 0
  • Female 2
  • Third Gender 0
  • Unknown 0

Caste

  • SC/ST 0
  • OBC 0
  • General 0
  • Unknown 2

Age Group

  • Minor 0
  • Adult 0
  • Senior Citizen 0
  • Unknown 2
Case Status Background
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Case Status


Arrested

Case Status Background
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Perpetrators Details

Perpetrators


Christian Extremists

Perpetrators Range


From 2 To 5

Perpetrators Gender


male

Case Details SVG
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