Hindus lured with inducements and pressured to convert to Christianity; perpetrators denigrate Hindu deities
Prayagraj (Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh, India 
25 October, 2025
Case Summary
In Silokhra village, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, Hindus were targeted for forced Christian conversion. The victims were enticed with money and promises of 'healing' services. They were also subjected to insults against Hindu deities and threats for resisting conversion. According to media reports, the incident came to light when a Hindu man named Karan Bhartiya, son of Kanhaiyalal and a resident of Silokhra, lodged a complaint with the police. He stated that a Christian religious gathering called ‘Jesus Darbar’ had been taking place in the village for several months. During these gatherings, innocent Hindu villagers were lured into converting to Christianity through offers of money. A so-called 'healing' service was also conducted every Sunday, during which derogatory remarks were made against Hindu deities. The perpetrators further enticed villagers to embrace Christianity by promising financial assistance from a missionary organisation. Karan also stated that the Hindus who resisted conversion were threatened with death. Following an investigation, the police found the complaint to be true and registered a case against the Christian accused — Ram Awadh and his wife Aarti, Jagat Bahadur and his wife Bitola, and Brij Baran — all residents of Silokhra, under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Subsequently, Ram Awadh and his wife Aarti were arrested and sent to jail. The Station House Officer of Baharia police station, Brajesh Singh, stated that the search for the remaining accused was ongoing.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category selected in this case is- Predatory Proselytisation. Under this, 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- Attempting to convert/ converting 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. The other subcategory 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 has 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, forceful circumcision etc. 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 to ensure the Hindu victim abandons his/her professed religion and adopts the religion of the perpetrator. 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. 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, the Christian perpetrators had organised a religious gathering called ‘Jesus Darbar’, where individuals were induced to convert to Christianity through monetary inducements and so-called ‘healing’ services. These offers were not acts of kindness or generosity but deliberate attempts to manipulate vulnerable Hindus—particularly the poor and the sick—by exploiting their hardships to compel them towards conversion. This calculated exploitation of the vulnerabilities of Hindu victims constituted a deliberate, religiously motivated hate crime. The accused also made derogatory remarks about Hindu gods and goddesses as part of their effort to promote conversion to Christianity. Hinduism and its deities hold profound spiritual reverence and emotional importance for the Hindu community. Hindus are raised in devotion to these deities, who embody their faith and cultural identity. The deliberate attempt by the Christian perpetrators to attack these sacred figures in order to advance conversion revealed a clear intent to project the supremacy of Christianity and assert dominance over Hinduism. The denigration of Hindu deities was a targeted act of humiliation, driven by religious hostility, and it rendered the offence unambiguously motivated by deep-seated prejudice. In addition to these attacks on faith, the Hindu victims were subjected to continuous death threats and intimidation whenever they resisted or opposed conversion attempts. The use of coercive threats to enforce conversion exposed the aggressive and hostile religious intent behind the acts. Forced religious conversion is a grave violation of the fundamental right to religious autonomy, and its execution through intimidation only reinforces its nature as a crime rooted in religious hatred. The use of so-called ‘healing’ services was another calculated method of manipulation. The perpetrators deceitfully promised miraculous cures and relief from suffering to those who converted to Christianity, preying upon the faith and desperation of economically and physically vulnerable Hindus. This deliberate misuse of religious ‘healing’ to deceive and convert victims exemplified psychological and spiritual exploitation. Complainant Karan Bhartiya revealed that these religious gatherings and conversion-oriented meetings had been taking place in the village every Sunday for several months. This clearly established that the acts were not isolated incidents but part of a premeditated, systematic campaign to convert Hindus to Christianity through inducement, deception, and coercion. The scale, intent, and method of execution all point unmistakably to a hate crime driven by religious animosity. As this incident represents a clear example of a religiously motivated offence, it has been added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on the actual date when the crime occurred, rather than the date on which it is reported by the media. However, in this particular case, the exact date marking the beginning of the Hindu victims’ ordeal has not been specified. The available reports only mention that conversion gatherings were held every Sunday and that such activities had been ongoing for several months, without providing specific dates. Therefore, for documentation purposes, the most recent Sunday from the time of writing this report—26th October 2025—has been recorded as the indicative date of the incident.
Case Status
Case sub-judice
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
