Hindu family harassed by Christian pastor attempting forced conversion through fake healing prayers
Khargone, Madhya Pradesh, India 
23 September, 2024
Case Summary
In Khargone, Madhya Pradesh, a Christian pastor, along with three others, forcibly entered the home of a Hindu man named Jagdish Patel and attempted to convert his family to Christianity through prayers, despite their clear refusal. The four accused — Binu Mathew C, Arvind, Piyush, and Dasharia — told Jagdish and his wife that they had learned of their son's illness and offered to heal him through prayer. In return, they demanded that the family convert to Christianity. Although Jagdish and his family firmly refused, the pastor proceeded to conduct Christian prayers inside their home and declared that they had now embraced Christianity, promising them a happier life. Jagdish filed a complaint at the Balkwada police station in Khargone district. An FIR was registered against the four under Sections 3 and 5 of the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act. The accused initially sought anticipatory bail from the district court, which was rejected. They then approached the High Court, where government counsel Kamal Kumar Tiwari opposed their plea, stating that the act was not only coercive but also posed a threat to social harmony. After hearing both sides, Justice Binod Kumar Dwivedi denied anticipatory bail, deeming the accused ineligible.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category- Predatory Proselytisation. The sub-category relevant in this case is- Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion. Harassment covers a wide range of behaviours of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, including threats and coercion. Harassment and threats, in this case, find their root on discriminatory grounds which has the effect of nullifying a person’s rights or infringing upon his freedom to exercise his right specifically owing to the victim’s religious identity. Verbal and physical threats and psychological or physical harassment are often used against Hindu victims because they choose to practice their professed religion. Religious harassment also includes forced and involuntary conversions by harassment, threats or coercion. Coercion includes intimidatory tactics like force-feeding a Hindu victim beef to convert to another religion, forceful circumcision etc. In several cases documented, non-Hindu perpetrators or those who harbour specific animosity towards Hinduism, harass victims simply based on their religious identity. Such cases often also include harassment to ensure the Hindu victim abandons his/her professed religion and adopts the religion of the perpetrator. Such cases where Hindu victims are harassed to convert to the perpetrator’s religion are rooted in animosity towards the victim’s religious identity and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. The other sub-category 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. In this case, the perpetrators—four Christians, including a pastor—entered the home of a Hindu family without consent and forcibly conducted Christian prayers, despite the family's firm refusal to convert. The pastor not only imposed the prayer ritual but also falsely declared that the family had now become Christian and would live happier lives. This act of religious intrusion, combined with verbal pressure and psychological coercion, constitutes clear harassment and coercion rooted in religious bias. Such acts aim to infringe upon the freedom of the Hindu family to practise their faith and are based solely on their religious identity. This deliberate targeting and humiliation of the Hindu family—through unwanted religious imposition—is a direct example of harassment and coercion motivated by animosity towards Hinduism and is therefore documented as a religiously motivated hate crime. Although no financial transaction occurred, the perpetrators attempted to induce conversion through false promises of divine healing for the couple’s ailing son. The offer to "cure" the child through Christian prayers in exchange for embracing Christianity is a form of religious inducement, exploiting the family's vulnerability and emotional distress. This act mirrors a pattern seen in numerous other cases, where non-Hindu individuals or groups attempt to convert economically or emotionally vulnerable Hindus by offering solutions to their suffering, whether related to health, employment, or family. Such inducement operates as a veiled form of coercion, aiming to disenfranchise Hindu individuals from their faith by manipulating their difficult circumstances. This makes the act a predatory and exploitative attempt at proselytisation and qualifies it as a hate crime based on religious identity. Hence, this incident constitutes a religiously motivated hate crime as it involved coercive proselytisation and targeted harassment of a Hindu family to forcefully alter their faith.
Victim Details
Total Victim
3
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 1
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 3
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 2
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Case sub-judice
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
