Hindus lured with inducements and ''miracles'' to convert to Christianity in Chhattisgarh

Case ID : 9958607 | Location : Balod, Chhattisgarh, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 6 September, 2025

Case ID : 9958607

Balod, Chhattisgarh, India

6 September, 2025

Hindus lured with inducements and ''miracles'' to convert to Christianity in Chhattisgarh

Predatory Proselytisation

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Pattern of targeting Hindus

Case Summary

In Balod, Chhattisgarh, Hindus were targeted for Christian conversions. These conversions were carried out by offering inducements and under the pretext of showing ‘miracles’. According to media reports, a Christian prayer meeting was taking place at the house of a man named Panchram on Gunderdehi–Dhamtari Main Road in Balod. Hindu organisations stated that 40–50 Hindus were being converted under the guise of a prayer gathering. After receiving news of this, members of the organisation reached the spot and created a disturbance. They also argued with the police. The police brought around 22 Christians (8 men and 14 women) to the police station and, after interrogation, arrested 8 Christians, including a Christian pastor. The 8 arrested accused were identified as Harakh Ram Meshram, Bhagirathi Nishad, Birendra Nishad, Omkar Sonkar, Ageshwar Nishad, Dhanraj Vishwakarma, Piyush Chandrakar, and Tikeshwar Meshram. Hindu organisations said that sick and poor Hindus were lured by the display of supposed miracles. They were promised financial assistance and were deceived into adopting Christianity. Vishwa Hindu Parishad district president, Balram Gupta, stated that a conversion network was operating in the area. He said that in the house where prayers were being held on the day of the incident, a special seat had been prepared for the Christian pastor. Efforts were being made to influence Hindus in every possible way. He further said that the police should take strict action to prevent conversions, otherwise the organisation would protest. Balram Gupta also said that while churches had already been built for Christians, now Hindu houses were being turned into churches instead of people gathering in existing churches. In the village of Mahud B in the Gunderdehi police station area, "Beton Han Church" had been written outside a house, which was removed following protests from Hindus. Gunderdehi TI Manish Shende said that a case was registered under Section 170 of the BNS against 8 Christians who had organised the prayer meeting without permission. All the accused were presented in the SDM court, which sent them to jail. The others who had participated in the meeting were still being questioned.

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. The other subcategory selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected is- 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. In this case, Hindus were lured with monetary incentives and manipulated to convert to Christianity by Christian evangelists. The nature of the conversion efforts and the wider impact on the Hindu community all indicate a targeted action against Hindus as a collectivity. When individuals or groups focus their efforts on converting members of a particular religion, in this case, Hindus, then it demonstrates a fundamental disregard for the Hindu faith. Conversion, especially when not based on personal conviction but rather on external persuasion or pressure, is not simply about sharing a different belief system. It is an attempt to undermine the values, traditions, and identity of the Hindu community. In this context, the Christian perpetrators specifically targeted Hindus, which suggests a lack of respect for Hinduism and its followers. Such actions are carried out to strip Hindu victims of their faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. The use of financial incentives and other inducements to encourage Christian conversion clearly demonstrates that these actions were not motivated by kindness or charity. Instead, they were calculated attempts to exploit vulnerable Hindus specifically because of 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. 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 Hindus of their agency and dignity and enforces forced conversions. These are not random or isolated incidents, but rather are premeditated efforts to undermine the Hindu faith, persuade Hindus to discard their own faith, and convert to Christianity. Such acts are deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims and their faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. Hindus were further manipulated under the guise of so-called miracles. By presenting fake or exaggerated spiritual phenomena, the Christian perpetrators attempted to mislead vulnerable individuals into abandoning their faith. Such tactics of manipulation and indoctrination demonstrate deliberate intent to erode Hindu beliefs, reflecting outright hostility towards Hinduism and the Hindu community, making it a religiously motivated offence. Furthermore, Hindu groups stated that the accused were operating a conversion network in the area. This showcases a clear pattern of targeting Hindus and attempting to convert them to Christianity. Such actions were aimed at undermining the religious and cultural identity of Hindus through coercion, manipulation, and unlawful means. These incidents demonstrated that the conversions were neither isolated nor accidental, but rather part of a calculated and deliberate strategy to convert Hindus to Christianity. By focusing specifically on Hindus, the Christian evangelists were profiling vulnerable individuals and systematically working to erase their Hindu identity. These instances of targeted proselytisation activities stem from inherent hostility towards the victims' professed faith since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent to their faith is subject to being dehumanised till they convert, making it a religiously motivated crime against Hindus. Since this case meets multiple parameters of a religiously motivated attack against Hindus and their faith, it is being added to the hate crime database. Disclaimer: The case mentions that between 40 to 50 individuals were baptised by the accused, but does not provide an exact number. For documentation purposes, we have recorded the maximum count of 50 victims in the database. Disclaimer: Police brought 22 individuals to the police station for questioning; however, after inquiry, 8 individuals, including a Christian pastor, were arrested. For this reason, the perpetrator count has been kept at 8.