Tribals forced to convert in Church under garb of prayer meeting
Sirohi, Rajasthan, India 
4 February, 2025
Case Summary
A religious conversion attempt was reported in Sirohi, Rajasthan, triggering protests from Hindu organisations. The incident took place at a church in the Railway Colony of Abu Road, where Hindu Jagran Manch, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad, and BJP activists found the church of converting tribals under the guise of a prayer meeting. They demanded strict action against those involved. Upon receiving information, Inspector Harchand Dewasi arrived at the scene with a police team to control the situation. Around 60-70 people, mostly tribal men and women, had gathered in the church. When questioned by the police, the attendees denied any conversion attempts and claimed they had come solely for prayers. The organizers also refuted the allegations. Hindu Jagran Manch leader Sachchidanand Jha stated that conversions were being carried out under the pretext of religious gatherings. He stated that tribals had been lured into attending and filed a complaint against the organizers at the police station. Following this, the police launched an investigation into the matter. In response, Hindu organizations staged protests, with Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Mandal President Manish Singhal and Councilor Arjun Singh, joining the demonstration. Protesters raised slogans against religious conversions at the subdivision office premises. A memorandum was submitted to the Sub Divisional Magistrate, addressed to the President, demanding an anti-conversion law, a ban on foreign funding, and legal action against the accused.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This particular case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under the sub-category: Proselytisation by brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, under the core category of 'Predatory Proselytisation' because the details of the case clearly demonstrate the perpetrator's bias against the victim's faith and the deliberate attempt to alienate them from their religious identity. 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. Here, the use of a prayer gathering as a cover suggests that the individuals involved may have been using indirect methods to lure or convince others into conversion, possibly targeting vulnerable people by exploiting their emotional, social, or religious needs. As such, this constitutes a religiously motivated hate crime as actions like these are driven by intolerance towards the victim's religious identity and aim to coerce them into abandoning their faith.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
