Hindu villagers pressured to convert through inducement; encouraged to abandon Hindu practices

Case ID : aa4ae8e | Location : Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Wed, 9 April, 2025

Case ID : aa4ae8e

Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India

9 April, 2025

Hindu villagers pressured to convert through inducement; encouraged to abandon Hindu practices

Predatory Proselytisation

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Attempting to convert/converting by denigrating Hinduism

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Pattern of targeting Hindus

Case Summary

In Arusha village, located in the Ahraula police station area of Azamgarh district, a case of religious conversion was reported. Local resident lodged a formal complaint stating that a gathering was held at the home of Gulabchand, where around 15 to 20 men and women had assembled. During this meeting, people were encouraged to abandon Hindu practices and convert to Christianity. Attendees were discouraged from worshipping Hindu deities, and Christian evangelism was promoted by praising Jesus and denigrating Hindu beliefs. According to the FIR, the organisers—Gulabchand and his wife Bendei—lured participants by offering promises of jobs and other material benefits. Singh and his companion Abhishek arrived at the scene upon receiving information and objected to the activities. In response, the organisers issued threats and urged them to convert as well, offering money to silence their protest. Singh reported that a Bible was present at the scene, and the gathering had a clear focus on religious conversion. Fearing for their safety, both men left the premises and went directly to the police station to report the matter. The Ahraula police acted promptly on the complaint and visited the location. Sub-Inspector Anil Kumar Singh confirmed that the homeowner, Gulabchand, had been taken into custody for questioning. The case was registered under Sections 3 and 5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, along with Section 351(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The investigation officer was assigned to lead the inquiry. Authorities stated that further action would be taken based on the outcome of the ongoing investigation.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added as a religiously motivated hate crime under the prime category- Attack on Hindu religious representations. Under this, the sub-category 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 second 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 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 third sub-category relevant here 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 sub-category selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, and within this 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. This case qualifies as a religiously motivated hate crime because it involved a deliberate attempt to convert Hindu villagers through inducement and psychological coercion. The organisers gathered men and women and urged them to abandon their faith in Hindu deities by denigrating Hindu beliefs and glorifying Christianity. This tactic is usually employed not only to assert the perceived superiority of their own religious beliefs over Hinduism but also to instil doubt in the minds of Hindus, making them more susceptible to conversion. Such predatory actions arise from deep-seated hostility towards the victim’s faith, as Abrahamic doctrines often view non-adherents as lesser until they convert. Further, the Christian extremists were offering money to vulnerable Hindus in an attempt to disenfranchise them from their professed faith and convert them to Christianity. The offer of monetary benefits and job opportunities to induce conversion highlights a classic example of predatory proselytisation, where economic vulnerabilities were exploited to separate individuals from their religious identity. This act goes beyond personal choice or religious discussion; it involves targeting a specific community, using their socio-economic position as leverage to push a contrasting faith, which directly undermines their freedom of religion and right to practice their beliefs without manipulation. Further, the use of threats and intimidation when the complainant and his companion objected to the conversion efforts falls under harassment and coercion for religious conversion. The perpetrators reportedly threatened the complainant with harm if he did not convert, which reveals the presence of pressure tactics intended to instil fear and silence opposition. Such acts are not isolated expressions of belief but are part of a broader pattern of religious grooming and manipulation. The systematic effort to convert Hindus through repeated propaganda, inducement, and threats demonstrates an underlying animosity towards their faith. This targeted and hostile attempt to erase the victim’s religious identity firmly establishes the incident as a hate crime, rooted in religious discrimination. Moreover, the accused individuals were involved in conducting religious conversion activities using methods such as Bible study sessions, as evident by the recovery of a Bible from the scene. Such actions involve subtle forms of indoctrination, where individuals are gradually exposed to religious teachings and practices, making them susceptible to conversion without fully understanding the consequences or being given an opportunity for critical reflection. Since the underlying offence, in this case, is against people 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. Disclaimer: The case mentions that between 10 to 20 individuals were baptised by the accused, but does not provide an exact number. For documentation purposes, we have recorded the maximum count of 20 victims in the database. It is also stated that both men and women were among those baptised, though no specific gender breakdown is provided. Therefore, we have evenly divided the count, recording 10 male and 10 female victims for the sake of consistency in documentation.