Hindus lured to convert to Christianity by offering money as inducement

Case ID : b45f404 | Location : Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 12 December, 2024
Case ID : b45f404
location Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh, India
date 12 December, 2024
Hindus lured to convert to Christianity by offering money as inducement
Predatory Proselytisation
Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Case Summary

Sitapur police busted a gang involved in religious conversion during prayer meetings, arresting seven accused and registering a case under religious conversion laws. A 70-page diary and two mobile phones were recovered from the arrested individuals, all of whom were sent to jail. The arrests took place in the Sidhauli Kotwali area after the police received information about the conversion activities. Acting on the instructions of Superintendent of Police Chakresh Mishra, a special team was formed to conduct raids. The arrested accused were from Rae Bareli, Lakhimpur, Kannauj, and Sitapur districts. The accused included Ashok Kumar (Rae Bareli), Anil Kumar (Lakhimpur), Sunil (Kannauj), Anurag Bharti (Kannauj), Ankit Rawat (Lucknow), Balram (Lakhimpur), and Rampal (Sitapur). According to the police, the gang targeted poor and vulnerable individuals, luring them with promises of employment and money to carry out religious conversions.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the primary category 'Predatory Proselytisation' under the sub-category '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. In this case, the Christian extremists were giving the Hindus money, promises of jobs and healing to manipulate them into conversion. When poor individuals are offered such inducements to disenfranchise them from their professed faith, the extremists essentially prey on their vulnerabilities to affect conversion. For that reason, it is documented as a religiously motivated hate crime.

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Case Status


Arrested

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Perpetrators Details

Perpetrators


Christian Extremists

Perpetrators Range


From 5 to 10

Perpetrators Gender


male

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