Hindus lured with money, medical treatment, and education for conversion to Christianity
Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India 
8 March, 2023
Case Summary
In Jagdishpur's Palpur town in Uttar Pradesh, Hindus were lured by six Christians to convert to Christianity under the pretext of attending prayer meetings. According to media reports, religious conversions disguised as prayer meetings had been taking place in Palpur for the past two years. The main accused, Kishore and his wife Rinki, residents of Lucknow, would frequently travel to Jagdishpur to organise these gatherings. The prayer meetings were held in a house where poor people were invited and enticed to convert to Christianity with promises of free education, better medical treatment for their children, and financial assistance for women. Some locals were also reportedly involved in assisting the missionaries with their conversion activities. In this case, the police arrested six individuals and registered a case against them for carrying out illegal conversions. Christian missionary groups have always targeted economically and socially vulnerable Hindus for conversion by offering material benefits such as money, medical care, employment, or free education for children. For example, on December 8, 2024, Dalit Hindus in Agrasar village, Uttar Pradesh, were lured and converted to Christianity by three accused individuals. In another incident in September 2024, Hindus in Sonari village, within the Ramganj police station area, were reportedly enticed to convert, resulting in the arrest of one individual. There have been several similar instances where prayer meetings were allegedly used as a front to target Dalit Hindus for conversion. These meetings promised free medical care, education, and employment, reportedly with the intent of converting the Dalit attendees to Christianity.
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- Conversion/attempts to convert by inducements. 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 Christian extremists were offering financial assistance, free education and miracle cures to vulnerable Hindus in an attempt to disenfranchise them from their professed faith and convert them to Christianity. Luring Hindus to convert to a different faith by offering money and inducements such as miracle cures for ailments and free education for children is predatory in nature since the extremists manipulate the specific vulnerabilities of disadvantaged and poor Hindus to manipulate them into conversion. This stems from inherent hostility towards the victim's professed faith since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent to the faith is a subject to be dehumanised till they convert. Since such predatory actions stem from doctrinal animosity towards the Hindu faith and its adherents, this case is being documented as a religiously motivated hate crime. Disclaimer: Here, it becomes important to note that the media reports said that this illegal conversion racket had been going on for the past two years. However, none of the reports mentioned the exact date when the conversion attempt began. Therefore, to document this case, we have chosen a date which is not accurate but only indicative of the year.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
