Hindus lured into religious conversion through inducements by Christian doctor, issued death threats for refusing to comply

Case ID : 9957df0 | Location : Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 6 July, 2025

Case ID : 9957df0

Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

6 July, 2025

Hindus lured into religious conversion through inducements by Christian doctor, issued death threats for refusing to comply

Predatory Proselytisation

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Case Summary

In the Indira Nagar area of Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh, multiple Hindus were lured, offered inducements and threatened for religious conversion by a Christian doctor. According to the reports, local Hindu residents, primarily belonging to the Valmiki community, complained that a Christian doctor had been visiting their area and inciting people to convert to Christianity. The doctor and his associates first lured them by offering inducements such as jobs, financial aid and other benefits in exchange for religious conversion. Several Hindu residents, including Ashok Valmiki, Bablu Valmiki, and Rajesh Valmiki, have stated that when they refused these offers, they were threatened, including threats to their lives and their children’s safety. It has been reported that at least seven people have been pressured for religious conversion. Concerns were also raised regarding a dharamshala and a church-like structure located in the locality, which was functioning as a hub for these conversion activities. As of the date of writing this report, police stated the investigation was ongoing and appropriate legal action would be taken against the accused. SDM Sadar Rajni Kant Pandey stated, “A complaint has been received in which some individuals are accusing each other of attempting religious conversion and issuing threats. The initial investigation reveals that both parties belong to the Valmiki community, and a personal dispute between them has also come to light. A thorough investigation is underway, and action will be taken based on the findings of the report.”

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of: - Predatory Proselytisation. Within in, the 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. The second sub-category relevant here 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. This case has been added to the tracker because Hindus belonging to the Valmiki community were targeted for religious conversion by a Christian doctor and his associates. Victims were first lured through inducements such as financial aid and job offers in exchange for conversion. Offering incentives to encourage conversion, particularly when directed at individuals who are vulnerable or in need, shows that these incentives are not acts of kindness or charity. Instead, they are calculated moves to exploit vulnerable Hindus because of their religion. By providing inducements to Hindus to change their faith, the accused were effectively blackmailing those who might have been desperate for assistance. Such instances are seen in many cases where members of Christian missionary groups target socially and economically vulnerable Hindus to further their agenda of religious conversions. This form of coercion strips people of their agency and dignity and enforces forced conversions. These are not random or isolated incidents, but rather cases deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims. Furthermore, when inducements failed, the Christian doctor escalated to threats of violence, threatening to kill the victims and harm their children. This escalation from offering material inducements to outright violence reflects a structured and phased approach often used in predatory proselytisation. It also reflects the extreme lengths to which the perpetrators were willing to go in order to induce conversion, making it clear that this was not about spiritual outreach but about asserting dominance over vulnerable Hindus. 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 inducements such as money or jobs. These tactics are designed not as acts of charity but as tools to engineer religious change under the guise of social upliftment, particularly among vulnerable and underprivileged communities. The recurring pattern of targeting Hindus under such pretences is what classifies this case as a religiously motivated hate crime, driven by hostility towards the Hindu religious identity.