Minor Hindu children forcefully taught Christianity in hostel, 12 children rescued
Damoh, Madhya Pradesh, India 
28 January, 2025
Case Summary
A religious conversion racket was uncovered in Damoh, leading to the rescue of 12 minor children from a hostel in Christian Colony during a late-night raid on January 29. The operation was carried out following directives from the National Human Rights Commission. The rescued children were counselled by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in Sagar before legal action was initiated. Damoh police registered a case against two accused individuals, PK Shukla and a woman named Anamika Krujar. Authorities recovered Bibles and religious literature from the premises, confirming that the children were being taught Christianity. All the rescued children belonged to Hindu families, though three of them had not been identified. During questioning, the accused claimed that they had brought the children from Jabalpur during the COVID-19 pandemic. The children had been enrolled in the missionary-run Navjagriti School, where the names of PK Shukla and his son were fraudulently listed as the parents in school admission records. Following the investigation and recommendations of the CWC, a case was filed under multiple sections of the Juvenile Justice Act and the Scheduled Tribes (ST) Act. The case was registered under sections 143, 143, 43/5, 42, and 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act, along with 3, 2, and 5 of the ST Act. During counselling, the children disclosed that they had been kept at the hostel illegally and were being coerced into learning Christian teachings. The State Child Commission directed the district administration to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Predatory proselytisation. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. Further, a tertiary category named- Conversion of minor has also been selected, based on the case details. 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 specific case, it is evident from the details that the Hindu victims were minors which essentially means that the element of consent and genuine change of conscience was missing ab initio. It is a well-established fact that children are more susceptible to manipulation since they are still developing emotionally, cognitively, and socially. Their brains are not fully matured, making them more vulnerable to influence and less capable of critically evaluating information. Moreover, subtle manipulation tactics can be difficult to detect, especially when they are employed by trusted authority figures in positions of influence. This makes it challenging for parents, to identify and address instances of religious manipulation in schools. Since the underlying offence in this case is against children of a specific faith and involves subtle tactics of indoctrination, which obviously stems from a bias against the Hindu faith, this case has been documented as a hate crime.
Victim Details
Total Victim
12
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 12
Caste
- SC/ST 12
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 0
Age Group
- Minor 12
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
