Hindus subjected to abuse and religious slurs during forced conversion event
Jainpur, Uttar Pradesh, India 
3 May, 2025
Case Summary
In the village of Kutubpur, located in Sujanaganj, Uttar Pradesh, two Christian missionaries were found conducting a conversion assembly where they attempted to coerce and lure Hindu villagers into converting to Christianity through threats and inducements. The event was organised by Ramdular, son of Khemchand and Khemchand, son of Ramnarayan, both residents of Kutubpur. It was presented as a prayer meeting. It turned into a platform for spreading hatred against Hindu beliefs and pressuring the local population to abandon their faith. Witnesses reported that the pastors warned villagers that if they did not adopt Christianity, they and their families would fall ill. They also made vulgar and insulting remarks about Hindu dharma. Residents of Kutubpur reported the matter to the Sujanaganj police station. The police raided the location and arrested two pastors. From the site, authorities recovered dozens of copies of the Bible, objectionable literature related to conversion activities, and further evidence of organised missionary operations. The police filed a case against the two under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. Leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, including district president Dinesh Kumar Mishra and block president Sheetla Prasad Mishra, visited the scene and condemned the act as a direct attack on Hindu faith and culture.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. The 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 other 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 other sub-category 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. This incident is a clear example of a hate crime because it involved the targeted harassment and intimidation of people simply because they were Hindu. Threatening individuals with harm to themselves or their families unless they convert is a deeply malicious act. In this case, vulnerable Hindus were deliberately targeted through fear and psychological manipulation—tactics aimed at breaking their spiritual will and coercing them into abandoning their faith. Such behaviour stems from a deep-rooted hostility towards Hindu beliefs, and it creates an environment where Hindus are made to feel unsafe, unwelcome, and devalued purely because of their religious identity. Along with that, material incentives were offered, and Hindu dharma was mocked and insulted in a setting where victims were already vulnerable. This form of conversion relies not on free choice, but on the erosion of self-respect and religious and cultural grounding. When someone's faith is first insulted and then replaced with another under pressure or temptation, it is not a change of belief but a coercive act rooted in hostility. The central aim here was not just to convert, but to discredit and dismantle Hindu identity itself, making this a clear case of a religiously motivated hate crime.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
