Canadian missionaries attempt to convert 33 tribal men and women and around 11 minors to Christianity

Case ID : b7c3eee | Location : Jagatsinghapur, Odisha, India | Date of Incident : Wed, 21 June, 2023

Case ID : b7c3eee

Jagatsinghapur, Odisha, India

21 June, 2023

Canadian missionaries attempt to convert 33 tribal men and women and around 11 minors to Christianity

Predatory Proselytisation

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Conversion of minor

Case Summary

A Canadian citizen named Eapen Mohan Kidangalil was accused by the Odisha Police of luring poor tribal children under the guise of a religious event called 'Prarthana Sabha' in an attempt to convert them to Christianity. The accused person was on a tourist visa and had organized a ‘Prarthana Sabha’ on June 22. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad members intervened and caught the accused, leading to the filing of an FIR. Vishwa Hindu Parishad members discovered that around 33 tribal men and women and around 11 minor children were brought to the 'Prarthana Sabha' by the missionary members in a vehicle that had no number plate registration on it. “The person from Canada had some cash and documents in his hand. He was trying the local people to convert their religion,” the FIR filed by Suryakant Nanda of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad read. One of the local tribal women who was being converted was questioned by the Bajrang Dal members. The woman said that she earlier used to worship Lord Jagannath but would now stop worshipping him as she was converted on the occasion. Kidangalil and two other missionaries from Tirtol were implicated in the event. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) intervened, urging immediate action and inquiry into the illegal conversion of around 11 Hindu minor children. The police seized various items from Kidangalil, including a Bible, cash, and medicines that could potentially be used to drug minors. Although the accused were released, investigations are ongoing. The NCPCR requested a detailed inquiry report from the Collector and District Magistrate of Jagatsinghpur for further action.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

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, it is not explicitly mentioned that the Hindu tribal victims were being lured with inducement. The FIR copy, however, mentions that the missionary activist had some cash and documents in his hand when he was caught. Since the victims, in this case, belonged to an economically backward community, the money was presumably being offered to them as an inducement to renounce their professed faith and accept Christianity, which clearly means that the Christian evangelist was attempting to exploit a specific vulnerability of the victim. Since exploiting vulnerabilities for the explicit purpose of conversion is purely based on animosity towards the victim's faith. Another important element in this case is the conversion of minors. Religious brainwashing essentially means the often subtle and forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up their religious beliefs to accept contrasting regimented ideas. Religious brainwashing also involves propaganda and manipulation. It involves the systematic effort, driven by religious malice and indoctrination, to persuade “non-believers’ to accept allegiance, command, or doctrine to and of a contrasting faith. Cases of such brainwashing are far more nuanced than direct threats, coercion, inducement and violence. In such cases, it is often seen that there is repeated, subtle and continual manipulation of the victim to induce disaffection towards their own faith and acceptance of the contrasting faith of the perpetrator. While subtle indoctrination is widely acknowledged as predatory, an element which is often understated in such conversions or the attempts of such conversion is the role of loyalty and trust which might develop between the perpetrator and the victim. Fiduciary relationships are often abused to affect such religious conversion. For example, an educator transmitting religious doctrine of a competing faith to a Hindu student. The Hindu student is likely to accept what the teacher is transmitting owing to existence of the fiduciary relationship. The exploitation of the fiduciary relationship to religiously indoctrinate victims would also be included in this category. Since the underlying animosity towards the victim’s faith forms the basis of predatory proselytization, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. Conversion of minors is a hate crime ab initio because minors don't have the agency to consent to adopt a new religion or understand the implications of the conversion. Conversion of minors is a result of brainwashing and grooming where these children are targeted specifically owing to their religious identity and vulnerabilities.