Hindu man harassed and threatened to convert to Christianity by pastor, also extorted money

Case ID : b45f33c | Location : East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Mon, 11 November, 2024
Case ID : b45f33c
location East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh, India
date 11 November, 2024
Hindu man harassed and threatened to convert to Christianity by pastor, also extorted money
Predatory Proselytisation
Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Case Summary

A case of harassment, threats and extortion for conversion to Christianity emerged from the Balabhadrapuram village in Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari District. Local Hindu man, Nakka Srinivas, reported extensive harassment after refusing to convert to Christianity. According to the First Information Report (FIR), Srinivas alleges that Pastor David demanded a one lakh rupee church fund and, upon his refusal, engaged in acts of intimidation. The complaint also details how David frequently harassed Srinivas by playing loudspeakers at high volumes during church services held in a building opposite Srinivas’s residence. Further allegations claim that Christian Pastor David pressured Srinivas to convert to Christianity repeatedly, even as Srinivas declined. David is also accused of parking vehicles obstructively in front of Srinivas’s property during gatherings and making false accusations against Srinivas, including threats to falsely implicate him in illegal activities such as the ganja trade and sexual harassment. According to the FIR, the pastor's actions also led to the Hindu man getting divorced from his wife due to discord in the family. Reportedly, the pastor was booked under under sections 130, 292, 351, and 308(6) of the BNSS and arrested.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the primary category 'Predatory Proselytisation' under the sub-category '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. In this case, the Hindu man specifically stated that he was being repeatedly pressured, harassed and threatened to convert to Christianity by the pastor. The pastor had made threats to implicate him in false cases when he refused to convert, extorted money from the victim and also, continued to repeatedly harass him to force him into accepting Christianity after disenfranchising him from his professed faith. It was after the continued harassment and threats that the pastor was booked. Coercing a Hindu man to abandon his professed faith with threats stems out of inherent hostility towards Hinduism, its representations and adherents. This is therefore added to the hate crime database.

Victim Details

Total Victim

1

Deceased

0


Gender

  • Male 1
  • Female 0
  • Third Gender 0
  • Unknown 0

Caste

  • SC/ST 0
  • OBC 0
  • General 1
  • Unknown 0

Age Group

  • Minor 0
  • Adult 1
  • Senior Citizen 0
  • Unknown 0
Case Status Background
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Case Status


Arrested

Case Status Background
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Perpetrators Details

Perpetrators


Christian Extremists

Perpetrators Range


One Person

Perpetrators Gender


male

Case Details SVG
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