Hindus lured with inducements and brainwashed with Christian religious texts; perpetrator denigrates Hindu faith for religious conversion
Shrawasti, Uttar Pradesh, India 
8 November, 2025
Case Summary
In Bhayapurwa, located in the Shravasti district of Uttar Pradesh, more than 150 Hindus were targeted for forced conversion to Christianity by Christian men named Rajesh Kumar, his brother Ravi, and two other individuals. The incident came to light when police arrived at the scene where the attempted conversion was taking place and foiled the plan. Station House Officer (SHO) Mahimanath Upadhyay of Hardatt Nagar Girant Police Station took the accused, Rajesh Kumar and Ravi, into custody. Several Christian religious books, four Bibles, 138 Christian religious cards, and other documents were recovered from him. The other two perpetrators managed to flee. According to the police investigation, the conversion attempt was linked to conversion networks operating from Punjab. It was also found that pastors from Nepal and Sitapur frequently visited the area for similar activities. Consequently, the district became a sensitive zone regarding religious conversion cases. The investigation revealed that Rajesh Kumar, a resident of Bhayapurwa in the Hardatt Nagar Girant area, along with his three accomplices, had organised a religious gathering in the village on 9 November 2025. During this gathering, Rajesh was attempting to indoctrinate Hindus by glorifying Christianity before more than 150 people and encouraging them to convert. While leading them in prayer, he also denigrated Hinduism and lured Hindu participants with inducements such as houses, jobs, jewellery, money, and food. Someone from the village informed the police, following which SHO Mahimanath Upadhyay and his team reached the site and recovered religious books and a list containing the names and addresses of participants in the prayer meeting. The main accused, Rajesh Kumar, who was inciting people to convert, along with another accused, Ravi, were arrested, and further investigation commenced. During interrogation, several suspicious items were recovered from the scene, and the preliminary inquiry established the accused’s links to Jalandhar in Punjab. Legal proceedings were initiated, and police efforts continued to uncover the full network involved in the forced conversions.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. Within 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- 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. 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. In Bhayapurwa village, this incident exemplifies a blatant and deliberate hate crime against Hindus. The four perpetrators—Rajesh Kumar, his brother Ravi, and two other accomplices—systematically brainwashed over 150 Hindus, using deceptive techniques that glorified Christianity and lured them with inducements to renounce their ancestral faith. These four men offered material inducements such as houses, jobs, jewellery, money, and food to coerce Hindus into converting, turning what should have been a voluntary act of faith into a form of coercion and manipulation driven by religious motivation. Such acts of offering incentives are not acts of kindness; they are coercion that exploits the vulnerability of economically weaker sections of Hindu society. During a public gathering, the perpetrators framed their inducements as persuasion, but in reality, they exerted social and economic pressure to manipulate participation, clearly demonstrating their intent to undermine Hindu religious identity through coercive means. Such acts are done to strip Hindus of their faith and make them forcibly adopt Christianity, making it a clear instance of religiously motivated crime. The perpetrators also employed emotional manipulation, false promises, and religious pressure, with the clear intent of enforcing Christianity upon Hindu villagers. Their actions were calculated, not driven by compassion, but by a strategic desire to create discontent with Hinduism and replace it with Christianity. The use of Christian scriptures and prayer materials as instruments of conversion showed that this act was not spontaneous but carefully designed to undermine the religious identity of Hindus. Using the sacred texts of one faith to target, confuse and dismantle another community’s sacred beliefs constituted a direct form of religious aggression. Such acts of proselytisation, built on brainwashing and manipulation, are not an exercise of free belief but a coercive and oppressive attempt to engineer religious conformity, making this a clear instance of a religiously motivated offence. The fact that the accused denigrated Hinduism in front of a large gathering further underlined the malicious intent of their actions. They consciously insulted and belittled the Hindu faith. This act of verbal and ideological humiliation was not mere disagreement between belief systems—it was an attempt to erode the self-respect and confidence of the victims in their faith. The goal of such methods was to make the Hindu participants feel inferior and spiritually lost, pushing them towards accepting conversion as a way to restore their dignity or solace. This use of disdain and verbal attack on Hinduism demonstrated the depth of religious hostility driving the accused’s motives. The investigation established that the perpetrators had deliberately planned and organised this conversion programme as part of an orchestrated effort to convert a large number of Hindus. The fact that they were able to gather over 150 people in a single event revealed the level of coordination involved. Further inquiry uncovered strong links with Christian missionary networks in Jalandhar, Punjab, as well as with religious operatives from Nepal. This association demonstrated that the incident was not isolated or localised but part of a broader network conducting organised religious conversions across regions. The evidence suggested a well-structured and strategically executed campaign to attack Hindu identity and forcibly convert Hindus to Christianity. This confirmed that the Bhayapurwa incident was a deliberate and planned act of religious aggression, rooted in hostility towards Hinduism and its adherents. Such cases of predatory proselytisation are rooted in doctrinal animosity towards Hinduism. The conversion ideology embedded in Abrahamic frameworks often views non-adherence to their faith as spiritual inferiority or moral deficiency. This mindset not only marginalises Hindus but also dehumanises them by mocking their beliefs and spiritual practices. The deliberate attempt to manipulate and convert Hindus through coercive religious brainwashing reflects this underlying doctrinal hostility. Therefore, this incident is a clear instance of an anti-Hindu hate crime; hence, it is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker.
Victim Details
Total Victim
150
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 150
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 150
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 150
Case Status
Case sub-judice
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
