Three women coerce local Hindus to adopt Christianity, denigrate Hinduism in the process
Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India 
18 October, 2024
Case Summary
In Satna district of Madhya Pradesh, three women, identified as Archana Saket, Parvati Saket, and Sonu Saket, were arrested for attempting to convert locals to Christianity. The incident occurred in Hanuman Nagar New Basti, where a resident, Adarsh Tripathi, reported that the women approached him and others in the area, suggesting they abandon Hinduism and adopt Christianity to improve their lives. Tripathi said that, after mentioning his father’s ill health, the women gave him slips of paper with instructions to pray to Jesus, promising relief from his troubles if he converted. They warned him that staying in Hinduism would harm his family, but converting would bring healing. Suspecting a forced conversion attempt, Tripathi reported the encounter to the police. Following the complaint, the Kolgwan police registered a case against the three women under the Madhya Pradesh Religious Freedom Act, 2021, and subsequently detained them. Kolgwan police station in-charge Sudeep Soni confirmed the arrests, stating that the women were attempting to pressure locals to adopt Christianity.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case of conversion has been added to the primary category 'Predatory Proselytisation' under two sub-categories. The first sub-category is convert/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. In this case, the Christian perpetrators were attempting to lure the villagers by saying that adopting Christianity would make the Hindus' lives better and that their ailments would be cured by praying to Jesus. This is clearly an insidious attempt to manipulate the Hindus and take advantage of their vulnerabilities for the purpose of deceitfully disenfranchising them from their professed faith. The second sub-category this case is being added to is 'convert/attempting to convert by denigrating Hinduism'. In several cases, Hindus are converted or an attempt is made to convert Hindus by denigrating their faith, Hinduism. In such cases, the Hindus associate with the non-Hindu perpetrators often by choice and then, the attempt to convert them by insulting their faith, showing the faith down etc begins. An example of this would be a non-Hindu gathering where the Hindus are attending the gathering of their own free will. However, once they attend the gathering, there is an explicit attempt to convert them by abusing their faith and hailing the faith of the perpetrator. The denigration of the Hindu faith is often based on misrepresentation of the Hindu faith, its doctrine and scriptures and insult to espoused traditions if not blatant lies about Hindu beliefs and ways. Such conversions or attempts at conversions are driven by animosity towards the Hindu faith and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. In this case, the Christian perpetrators were clearly trying to convert the Hindus by denigrating Hinduism saying that their families would be harmed should they continue to follow their professed faith. Owing to the predatory nature of the conversion attempts, it is evident that the perpetrators harboured animosity towards the professed faith of the victim and were attempting to deceitfully disenfranchise them from their professed faith. For that reason, this case is being added to the hate crime database.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
female
Sources 
