Hindus coerced into converting to Christianity; converts prevented from returning to Hinduism

Case Summary
In Raebareli’s Harchandpur area, police detained two individuals associated with Christian missionaries for involvement in religious conversion activities. Both individuals, reportedly from Mizoram, were taken into custody in Ajmatullaganj village after a complaint from a local resident, Nanhu Singh. According to the police, Nanhu Singh, who had previously converted to Christianity from Hinduism, decided to return to his original faith. Upon learning of his decision, the two individuals reportedly visited his house to pressure and tempt him to remain in Christianity. When villagers discovered the incident, they gathered outside Singh’s house and alerted the authorities. The police arrived at the scene, detained the two individuals, and recovered religious materials, including Christian books, from the location. Additional SP Sanjeev Kumar Sinha confirmed that a case was registered based on Singh’s complaint. The individuals from Mizoram were accused of attempting to dissuade Singh from reconverting to Hinduism. BJP leader Sonu Singh expressed concerns about the increasing prevalence of such conversion cases, citing this incident as an example. The villagers’ protests prompted swift police action.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Predatory proselytisation. Under this, 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. 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 instance, the Christian evangelists were not only attempting to convert individuals to Christianity but also tried to coerce and pressure Nanhu Singh to remain a Christian against his will. This reflects a clear example of religious coercion. Their attempt to dissuade Singh from returning to Hinduism through intimidation fits within the broader pattern of manipulative conversion tactics. Such actions not only disregard the victim's right to religious freedom but also reveal an underlying bias against Hinduism. As such, this case constitutes a religiously motivated hate crime since the perpetrator's actions are driven by intolerance towards the victim's religious identity and aim to prevent him from reconverting to his original faith.
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
Arrested

Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male