Poor Hindu families coerced and bribed for conversion by Missionary school staff
Kabeerdham, Chhattisgarh, India 
5 May, 2025
Case Summary
In Kawardha town of Kabirdham district, Chhattisgarh, multiple Hindu families reported pressure to convert to Christianity by Holy Kingdom School and its Director. One of the victims stated that they were unable to pay the fees for their three children, at which point the school authorities told them that if they converted to Christianity, their children’s education would be made free. Furthermore, the school refused to issue a Transfer Certificate (TC) unless the pending fees were cleared, effectively leaving the family with no choice but to comply or remain stuck. In response, members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a protest at the Kawardha Collectorate, demanding immediate action against the school and calling for its closure. As of the date of this report, a memorandum was submitted to the district administration urging swift and decisive action.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of: - Predatory proselytisation. Within it, 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 relevant here 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. This case has been added to the tracker because the Hindu families were subjected to blackmail and coercive pressure to convert to Christianity. The school authorities exploited the families’ financial distress by offering material inducements, specifically a complete waiver of school fees, if they converted to Christianity. In addition, the school refused to issue Transfer Certificates (TCs) unless the outstanding fees were paid, effectively using the future of the children as leverage. This combination of coercion and inducement constitutes a targeted attempt to force religious conversion by taking advantage of the victims’ economic vulnerabilities and denying them basic educational rights. The Christian faith, by its very theological foundations, places a strong emphasis on proselytisation. In pursuit of conversion objectives, Christian evangelists employ unethical means, ranging from psychological pressure and misinformation to inducements such as free education, jobs, and medical care. These tactics are designed to systematically dismantle the Hindu victim’s connection to their faith, especially in environments such as schools, which should remain secular and safe spaces. The actions of the school in this case reflect a pattern of predatory proselytisation where religious conversion is pursued by coercion and exploitation. Since such predatory actions stem from doctrinal animosity towards the Hindu faith and its adherents, this case is being documented as a religiously motivated hate crime.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
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