Hindu villagers offered money for conversion by Christian missionaries; conversion activities carried out under guise of human rights
Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, India 
9 August, 2025
Case Summary
In the Dawak town of Jamalpur, Mirzapur district, about 36 poor Hindu villagers, including women, were being deceived and offered money for religious conversion by Christian missionaries, under the guise of the Indian Human Rights Council. According to reports, for the past three months, conversion activities had been taking place at the house of a man named Mehboob Alam. Christian missionaries targeted poor Hindu villagers from the area and offered them money to embrace Christianity. In the afternoon of 10 August 2025, Hindu organisations Hindu Yuva Vahini, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal received information about the conversion activity taking place at the same house, targeting Hindus. When they reached the location at around 1 pm, they found 36 poor Hindu villagers from Chandauli and Mirzapur districts, including women, present at the program. It was revealed that missionaries were luring people with money in order to convert them to Christianity. Furthermore, there was a banner of the Indian Human Rights Council outside the house in which the conversion activities were taking place. Police were immediately informed about the incident. Police reached the location and arrested four people, while one accused escaped from the spot. As of the date of writing this report, the investigation was ongoing, and police assured that strict legal action would be taken against the accused. In this regard, Onkarnath Keshari, a resident of Dwak village, filed a complaint against Chandanram, Rishi Devi, Ramlochan, Jagdishram and Ravindra Singh Maurya.
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 - 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 selected here 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. This case was added to the tracker because poor Hindu villagers, including women, were lured and offered money for religious conversion by Christian missionaries. The use of money to encourage conversion clearly demonstrated that these actions were not motivated by kindness or charity. Instead, they were calculated attempts to exploit vulnerable Hindus due to their religion. By providing inducements to Hindus to change their faith, the Christian perpetrators were effectively emotionally blackmailing those vulnerable Hindus who might have been desperate for assistance. Furthermore, these conversion activities were carried out under the guise and banner of the Indian Human Rights Council. This kind of deception or facade is often used by Christian missionaries to mask their conversion activities and avoid suspicion from the administration or vigilant citizens. Such deception helps lure innocent Hindus under the guise of social work. The use of such deception further shows that these conversions were not the result of open discussion or genuine exchange of ideas, but of manipulation and inducement. 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. In such cases, Christian missionary groups often target and brainwash socially and economically vulnerable Hindus to further their agenda of religious conversions. This form of coercion strips Hindus of their agency and dignity and enforces forced conversions. These are not random or isolated incidents, but rather premeditated efforts to undermine the Hindu faith, persuade Hindus to discard their own faith, and convert to Christianity. Such acts were deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims, and thus, this case was added to the tracker.
Victim Details
Total Victim
36
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 36
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 36
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 36
Case Status
Case sub-judice
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 5 to 10
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
