Hindu villagers targeted by Christian missionaries through exorcism and fake healing promises
Pashchim Champaran, Bihar, India 
16 March, 2025
Case Summary
In Bharpatia Pathak Tola village, Dumri Mudadih Panchayat, Piprasi, Bihar, Hindu villagers were lured into converting to Christianity under the pretext of exorcism and medical treatment. According to media reports, Christian missionaries have been expanding their activities in the Piprasi block with the covert cooperation of local officials. Locals reported witnessing members of missionary groups persuading innocent Hindus to convert under the guise of offering medical aid and conducting exorcisms. However, the local Hindu community strongly opposed these conversion attempts and drove the preachers away. Residents noted that due to strict anti-conversion laws in Uttar Pradesh, Christian missionaries were now attempting to establish a base in the neighbouring state of Bihar. Concerned villagers alerted the police about these activities. Upon investigation, authorities discovered that missionary groups had indeed been increasing their influence in the Piprasi block, possibly with the collusion of local officials. Every Monday, missionaries were enticing villagers in Bharpatia Pathak Tola to convert, under the pretext of providing medical treatment and performing exorcisms. Regarding the incident, Mukhiya Jokhu Baitha confirmed that a complaint had been received, and officials were subsequently notified, with action being demanded. SHO Ashok Kumar stated that the police had acted swiftly on the complaint by summoning the preachers to the police station and asking them to present relevant documents. He assured that all aspects of the case would be thoroughly investigated.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of: - Predatory proselytisation. Within it, the sub-category selected is: - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, with the tertiary category being: - Pattern of targeting Hindus. 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. 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. This case has been added to the tracker because Christian missionaries were attempting to convert vulnerable Hindu villagers in Bharpatia Pathak Tola, Dumri Mudadih Panchayat, Piprasi, Bihar, under the false pretext of offering medical treatment and performing exorcisms. The villagers were targeted not through overt threats or violence but through subtle psychological manipulation and deceit. Pretending to offer help in the form of healing and spiritual relief, the missionaries engaged in a pattern of predatory proselytisation by systematically inducing disaffection towards the victims’ native faith and encouraging allegiance to a contrasting one. Repeated visits by missionaries every Monday demonstrate a pattern of persistent targeting and subtle indoctrination. This mode of conversion, which uses stealth and emotional exploitation, is no less coercive than physical threats, as it seeks to reshape the victim’s belief system through deceit, misinformation, and psychological control. The Christian faith, by its very theological foundations, places a strong emphasis on proselytisation. In pursuit of conversion objectives, Christian evangelists often employ unethical means, ranging from psychological pressure and misinformation to emotional manipulation. This also includes, as in this case, misleading patients into believing that their medical conditions can be healed through converting to Christianity. Such tactics do not constitute free will or informed choice, rather, they rely on deception, emotional manipulation, and the strategic targeting of those who are vulnerable. It creates a form of dependency that can alienate individuals from their original faith, as they may feel compelled to convert not out of genuine belief but due to immediate needs or financial pressures. Here, too, the Christian evangelists adopted a similar tactic of exploiting the vulnerability of the Hindus to convert them to Christianity. Since exploiting vulnerabilities for the explicit purpose of conversion is purely based on animosity towards the victim's faith, this case has been categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that the report does not specify the exact date when the conversion activity began. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
