Hindu minors face conversion pressure; deities insulted and sacred symbols defiled in school
Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh, India 
25 November, 2025
Case Summary
In the Karela village of Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh, minor Hindu students were brainwashed and pressured for religious conversion by their Buddhist teacher named Dashrath Saket. The accused teacher also denigrated Hindu deities, removed the kalavas and prohibited students from singing religious hymns or chants associated with Hinduism. According to reports, at the Government Higher Secondary School in Karela village, the accused teacher, Dashrath Saket, who teaches Geography, had been pressuring minor Hindu students to abandon their faith and embrace Buddhism during regular classroom sessions. The accused used to harass students who belonged to the Hindu religion. Multiple Hindu students stated that the accused teacher pressured them to practice Buddhism at school, while harassing them for worshipping Goddess Saraswati. He even punishes students for mentioning Lord Ram. Furthermore, he pressured them to avoid religious songs and religious programs associated with Hinduism. One of the victims, a 17-year-old Virendra Kumar Bais of Pipra village, filed a complaint with the Bargawan police station stating that the accused teacher repeatedly instructed him and other students to give up Hinduism. He stated that on 26 November 2025, during a class, the accused again urged the entire class to accept Buddhism. When Virendra refused, the accused abused him with vulgar language, forced him to remove the Kalava (Raksha Sutra) from his wrist, and tore off a small idol of Lord Shankar that he wore around his neck, breaking it and throwing it aside in front of other students. When students recorded a video of the incident on their mobile phones, the accused confiscated the phones and pressured them to delete the footage. Parents shocked by the revelation approached authorities and filed multiple complaints, prompting the district administration to take immediate action. The District Education Officer ordered an inquiry, while the Collector assured that an impartial investigation team would examine the entire matter. As of the date of writing this report, the police registered a case against Dashrath Saket under sections 196(1)(b), 296(b) and 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and further investigation was ongoing into the teacher’s conduct and the broader pattern of coercive religious pressure inside the government school.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Predatory Proselytisation. Within it, the sub-category selected is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, with the tertiary category being - Conversion of minor. 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 grooming or 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 grooming or 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. The other sub-category selected here 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. 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. The other sub-category selected here 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. The second primary category selected here is - Restriction/ban on Hindu practices. Within it, the sub-category selected is - Restriction on expression of Hindu identity. An example of the state-affected prejudicial and targeted orders against the Hindu community would be a government denying the right of a Hindu or a group of Hindus to hold a religious procession owing to the animosity of non-Hindu groups. Denial of the religious right of the Hindus to assuage the non-Hindu group which harbours animosity to a point where it could lead to violence against Hindus is not only a failure of law and order but is a prejudicial order against Hindus, denying them their fundamental rights to express their religious identity. An example of a hate crime against Hindus by a non-Hindu would be a non-Hindu institution forcing its Hindu employees to abandon religious symbols that a Hindu would wear as an expression of faith owing to inherent prejudice against the faith professed by the victim or a non-Hindu group of people restricting a Hindu group from constructing a place of worship simply because the demography of the area in which the temple is being built is dominated by non-Hindus. Such actions are driven by religious animosity and/or prejudice against Hindus and their faith and would therefore be categorized as a hate crime. The other category relevant here is- Attack on Hindu religious representations. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Desecration of Hindu religious symbols. Icons and symbols or a religious representation of a spiritual ideal are widely revered in Hinduism. Iconography is of vital significance in the Hindu milieu. It helps connect people’s spiritual beliefs with the real world. Iconography within the Hindu faith takes several shapes and forms. Murtis are of most significance to Hindus, to which daily rituals, prayers and offerings are done. Besides the murtis, there are several other symbols which have deep significance in the Hindu faith – the Om and Swastika for example. Since these Hindu religious symbols hold paramount importance in Hinduism, any desecration of symbols, icons, murtis, religious representations and manifestations, is driven by animosity towards the faith itself which manifests itself through these murtis, icons and symbols. Therefore, any desecration of these Hindu religious symbols and representations is considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. This case has been added to the tracker because minor Hindu students were brainwashed and pressured for religious conversion by their Buddhist teacher named Dashrath Saket. The accused harassed students and insulted Hinduism in order to push students towards converting to Buddhism. Firstly, it is important to note here that many of the victims, who were coerced for conversion were minors. Since the victims were minors, which means the element of consent and genuine change of conscience was missing ab initio. Minors, due to their young age and lack of maturity, are particularly vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. They may not have the ability to fully understand the implications of converting to another religion, and the perpetrator purposely targeted and exploited this vulnerability of the victims. Since this case exemplifies the use of coercion and manipulation to achieve religious conversion, it is a blatant act of religious hate, which is why it has been documented here in the hate tracker. Such acts are not merely criminal in nature; they are ideologically charged, revealing religious prejudice and a calculated intent to alter the religious identity of a minor without their volition. Secondly, the minor Hindu students were pressured and harassed for religious conversion. Pressuring a Hindu individual to discard his religious faith and embrace another is a direct attack on his religious identity and dignity. It was not a matter of personal choice; it was coercion rooted in hostility towards the victim's Hindu identity, especially when the victims were minors. Such an attempt reflects religious animosity because the act was not simply about personal differences but about erasing the victim’s Hindu faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. This was a systematic attempt to erode the religious foundation of individuals and replace it with allegiance to another faith reflects deep religious malice and animus against the Hindu identity. The core motivation of the act stemmed from hostility toward the student's Hindu religion. Thirdly, when one of the victims, Virendra Kumar, refused to accept Buddhism, he was subjected to verbal abuse, humiliation, and the desecration of his Hindu religious symbols by the accused teacher. In such cases, the intent was to break the student psychologically and spiritually, using humiliation as a tool to weaken resistance to religious conversion. This was not casual misconduct; it reflected a systematic and targeted attempt to undermine the students’ Hindu identity and pressure them into abandoning their faith. Fourth, similarly, other students were also punished and harassed for worshipping Goddess Saraswati or for mentioning Lord Ram, creating an atmosphere of fear around practising their own faith. The intent behind this was to make the Hindu students feel inferior about their religion and create a sense of shame or self-rejection. The purpose of such denigration is to make the victim feel that their own religion is unworthy and must be abandoned. This method is based on contempt and ideological hostility toward Hinduism, which qualifies as denigration and religious humiliation. Such actions are done to draw Hindu students away from their own religion, making their future conversion much easier. Fifth, the accused also tore of Kalava (Raksha Sutra) from the student's wrist, and tore off the idol of Lord Shankar that the student wore around his neck, broke it and threw it aside in front of other students. Symbols likeTilak and Kalava are not merely decorative things; they hold profound spiritual and cultural significance for Hindus. They are emblems of Hindu religious identity, often worn during prayers, rituals, and as a daily affirmation of faith. Forcibly removing it from a Hindu student's hand was a deliberate effort to erase their religious identity and expression. Such an act is deeply disrespectful and constitutes a direct attack on the values and practices of Hinduism. It goes beyond mere disciplinary action and constitutes targeted hostility towards Hindu students for their religious identity, raising serious concerns about the safety and protection of Hindus in educational institutions. This incident reflects a blatant restriction on the religious expression of Hindu children. The message it sends is that Hindu symbols are not welcome in the school and that these symbols would be forcibly removed if Hindu students display them. This not only violates a Hindu child’s fundamental right to practise and express his religion but also creates an atmosphere of fear and suppression, where Hindu children may feel compelled to conceal their faith to avoid similar treatment. Sixth, singing religious hymns or religious songs is another way people affirm their faith. For many, it is an essential part of their Hindu identity. Prohibiting a Hindu child from singing religious songs associated with Hinduism was an attempt to suppress his religious expression and his Hindu identity in an environment meant for learning and inclusivity. Such behaviour fosters an atmosphere of religious discrimination, where Hindu students may feel alienated or pressured to suppress their faith to avoid punishment or humiliation. This is particularly concerning as children are highly impressionable, and such incidents can subtly manipulate them into distancing themselves from their religious and cultural roots. Such actions stemmed from religious hostility toward the Hindu faith, revealing a clear pattern of contempt and targeted pressure against Hindu students to convert. The conduct of the accused teacher showed an intent not only to undermine the students’ religious identity but also to normalise the denigration of Hindu beliefs. Given the deliberate nature of the coercion, the humiliation of Hindu symbols, and the systematic attempt to convert minors, this case has been added to the tracker. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case have specified the exact date when the victim's ordeal began or since when the accused was carrying out such actions. The earliest date mentioned is 26 November 2025, when students were pressured to adopt Buddhism. Since Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began and not when it was reported, we have considered the date of the incident as 26 November 2025, though the media reported the incident on 30 November 2025.
Case Status
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Others
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
