Hindus targeted for religious conversions through temptations and false promise of curing illnesses
Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India 
6 September, 2025
Case Summary
In Karimnagar, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, Hindus were targeted for religious conversions. They were offered inducements and the promise of curing diseases. This incident came to light when local Hindus raised objections, stating that poor Hindus were being made to perform non-Hindu rituals and were being converted to other religions with promises of curing their ailments and offering temptations. When protests broke out, the atmosphere became heated and Hindus began raising slogans. The other (non-Hindu perpetrators) party, however, denied all the allegations, claiming that no one had been forced or enticed, and that those present had come of their own will and faith. The police were alarmed about the incident, and they reached the spot and pacified the situation. Seeing the seriousness of the matter, SP North Jitendra Kumar Srivastava personally monitored the situation. He stated that on receiving the complaint, the police had immediately gone to the spot. The local administration also appealed to the communities to maintain calm and not escalate the dispute.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. The subcategory 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 incident qualified as a hate crime against Hindus, as the accused had specifically targeted Hindus for religious conversions. The singular focus on Hindus reflected deep-seated religious animosity. Local residents emphasised that such targeting was not incidental but deliberate, carried out with the intention of undermining their faith and identity. Conversions that are not rooted in voluntary conviction but achieved through external persuasion or force amounted to an act of hate against Hindus. The act of offering temptations and inducements to Hindus stood out as false generosity. It was not an expression of kindness but a calculated form of coercion, motivated by hostility towards their religion. Poor Hindu families, struggling with poverty and hardship, were selectively lured with such inducements, exposing the discriminatory intent behind these conversion attempts. This reflected a repeated pattern, where Hindus were enticed and singled out for conversion by non-Hindus. Such actions were rooted in animosity towards the Hindu faith and its followers, making them religiously motivated crimes. Furthermore, the use of false promises to cure diseases in order to exploit vulnerable Hindus was not born of compassion but of religious hostility, aimed at manipulating suffering individuals into turning away from their faith. The perpetrators sought to weaponise illness and poverty, reducing human vulnerability to a tool of conversion. Such acts were designed to strip Hindus of their beliefs, making this a crime driven by religious enmity. In this case, even though the perpetrators remained unidentified, their actions were clearly motivated by animosity towards Hindus and their religion, qualifying it as a religiously motivated offence. Given that this case meets the parameters of religiously motivated crime, it is being added to the hate crime database.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Unknown
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
