Hostel operator threatens children to convert to Christianity, takes them to church in Indore
Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India 
16 October, 2024
Case Summary
In Indore’s Gram Khurda, police filed a case against a hostel operator, Sudhir Jangad, for pressurising children to convert to Christianity and presented him in court, where he was subsequently sent to jail. The incident came to light when two Hindu children, who had returned home during Navratri, refused to return to the hostel of Mahatma Gandhi High Secondary School. Upon questioning, they revealed that Sudhir had been taking them to a nearby church and threatening them. Parents of two students reported this to Manpur Police, and an investigation confirmed the allegations. Sudhir was charged under the Religious Conversion Section and POA. It was also found that the hostel, listed under his wife Anita’s name, lacked proper permissions.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added as a religiously motivated hate crime under the prime category of 'Predatory proselytisation' of the tracker. Within this, the first sub-category selected 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 have 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 and forceful circumcision. 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 in an attempt to make the Hindu victim abandon his/her professed religion and adopt the religion of the perpetrator. In this sub-category, we would include cases where the non-Hindu perpetrator harassed, threatened or coerced the victim to convert, however, the Hindu victim did not convert to another faith. Cases where the victim was converted owing to the harassment and threats would be documented in another sub-category. 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. Further, based on case details, another sub-category has been selected here, which is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. Within this, the tertiary category of 'Conversion of minors' has also been selected. 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 specific case, it is evident from the details that the Hindu victims were minors which essentially means that the element of consent and genuine change of conscience was missing ab initio. It is a well-established fact that children are more susceptible to manipulation since they are still developing emotionally, cognitively, and socially. Their brains are not fully matured, making them more vulnerable to influence and less capable of critically evaluating information. Moreover, subtle manipulation tactics can be difficult to detect, especially when they are employed by trusted authority figures in positions of influence. This makes it challenging for parents, to identify and address instances of religious manipulation in schools. Since the underlying offence in this case is against children of a specific faith and involves subtle tactics of indoctrination, which obviously stems from a bias against the Hindu faith, this case has been documented as a hate crime. Further, it is also mentioned that threat and coercion were used to force the children to go to a Church. Notably, the underlying motivation of predatory proselytisation itself is animosity towards the professed faith of the victim and in this case, there was threat and harassment involved in the pressure exerted to forcefully convert the Hindu children. Since the central aim of the perpetrator was to disenfranchise the Hindu children from their professed faith, this case has been added as a hate crime. Disclaimer: The details of this case reveal that many children were harassed and forced to convert by the accused. However, since it is explicitly mentioned that two children confirmed the allegation of conversion, we have conservatively recorded the victim count as 2 in the database for accuracy and consistency.
Victim Details
Total Victim
2
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 2
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 2
Age Group
- Minor 2
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Perpetrator held guilty by court
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
