Two minor girls confined in Pune orphanage beaten, tortured, and forcibly converted to Christianity
Pune, Maharashtra, India 
23 November, 2023
Case Summary
Two minor girls from the Pune district were tortured and forcefully converted to Christianity. The girls who lost their mother were initially forcefully sent to an orphanage in the Daund region where they were mistreated and forcefully converted. The girls were detained and confined by the Ramabai Mission orphanage for around two years after their aunts admitted them. The girls at the orphanage were harassed and made to clean the toilets. The religious beliefs of the girls were also targeted. The authorities at the orphanage broke the Lord Krishna idol that the girls carried while they were admitted to the orphanage temporarily. The girls were also made to read the Bible and were forcefully converted to Christianity. NCPCR took cognizance of the issue and issued a notice in the case on November 24, 2023.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This particular case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under two subcategories within the core category of Predatory Proselytisation because of the various distinct components that demonstrate the perpetrator's bias against the Hindu faith and their deliberate attempt to alienate the victims from their Hindu identity. The first sub-category relevant in this case 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 this specific case, it is evident from the details that the Hindu victims were minors which essentially means that the element of consent and genuine change of conscience was missing ab initio. Further, the authorities at the orphanage adopted the tactic of insulting and denigrating the young children's faith for the purpose of converting them to Christianity. Denigrating someone else's faith for the purpose of conversion often stems from a deeper animosity or lack of respect for the victim's faith, which is why this case has been documented as a hate crime under this sub-category under Predatory Proselytisation. The second sub-category under Predatory Proselytisation relevant in this case 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. In this subcategory, we would only include cases where the victim was harassed, threatened or coerced to convert. Cases where attempts were made to convert but the victim resisted would be documented in another sub-category. 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. This case is also being added to the primary category 'attack on Hindu religious symbols' under the sub-category desecration of Hindu religious symbols.
Victim Details
Total Victim
2
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 2
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 2
Age Group
- Minor 2
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
