Hindu man harassed for religious conversion by Christian missionaries: Offered money and medical help; incited against Hinduism
Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India 
5 June, 2025
Case Summary
In Indore's Malhar Mega Mall, Hindus were targeted for religious conversion by Christian missionaries, including foreign nationals, through inducements and by denigrating Hinduism. This targeting came to the fore when it occurred in the Malhal mega mall, where Christian missionaries led by Stephen Vijupala were attempting to lure Hindu visitors for religious conversion. They approached a Hindu man named Rajesh while he and his friends were in the food zone of the mall. Stephen, accompanied by several foreign nationals, including women, approached them and initiated a conversation in which he collected Rajesh’s personal details such as his name, address, family information, and mobile number. Stephen began making derogatory remarks about Hinduism, stating that the religion was filled with hypocrisy. He criticised that there are crores of gods and goddesses in Hinduism, but they cannot help anyone. He promoted Christianity as a superior religion, emphasising the absence of a caste system and the belief that all humans are children of Adam and Eve. He stated that believing in Jesus Christ alone could cleanse his sins. Stephen also attempted to lure Rajesh into converting by offering financial incentives, including coverage of his children's education and medical expenses. Furthermore, he also offered a monetary benefit of Rs 10,000, which was later increased to Rs 20,000 to induce religious conversion. He tried to get Rajesh to consume a bottle of holy water as a symbolic act of conversion. When Rajesh refused, Stephen threatened to implicate him in a false case and kill him. Rajesh immediately informed the police, and all the individuals involved were taken to the police station for questioning. A search of Stephen’s hotel room led to the discovery of Christian propaganda materials, including Bibles and other literature aimed at promoting conversion. As of the date of writing this report, the police arrested Stephen Vijupala under relevant charges, while the eight foreign nationals were released after their statements were recorded.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of: - Predatory proselytisation. Within it, the first sub-category selected 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 sub-category selected is: - 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. The third sub-category selected is: - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, with the tertiary category being: - Pattern of targeting Hindus. 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 fourth 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 second primary category selected here is: - Hate speech against Hindus. Within it, the sub-category selected is: - Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith. Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. This case has been added to the tracker because Christian missionaries were attempting to lure Hindus to Christianity through brainwashing, inducements, and by denigrating Hinduism. It can be categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus due to the specific targeting of their religious identity and the hostile methods employed. The nature of the conversion efforts, particularly the calculated use of financial inducements and derogatory speech about Hinduism, reflects a deep-rooted animosity towards Hindus as a group. Such attempts are not simply about religious propagation; they are structured efforts to undermine Hindu values, beliefs, and identity by exploiting psychological, social, and economic vulnerabilities. In this instance, the perpetrators specifically targeted Hindu individuals, approached them in public spaces, and attempted to dismantle their faith using a mix of ridicule and ideological manipulation. The denigration of Hinduism, calling it hypocritical, mocking the number of deities, and presenting Christianity as superior, was designed to generate a sense of shame and confusion among Hindu victims. Such ideological attacks are meant to destabilise a person’s confidence in their own religion and erode their spiritual foundation from within. These methods fall squarely within the framework of predatory proselytisation: calculated, persistent, and rooted in religious animosity. Moreover, the use of inducements, such as promises of free education, medical treatment, and cash incentives, was not charitable but a manipulative strategy to exploit economically disadvantaged Hindus. Such tactics convert vulnerability into an opportunity for religious subversion. When inducement is offered not out of compassion but with the clear intent of religious conversion, it becomes coercive and exploitative. This reflects a well-documented pattern where Christian missionary networks target underprivileged Hindu communities to systematically erase their religious identity. In this case, the intent to convert at any cost is further revealed by the threat issued to the Hindu victim. When inducements failed, the perpetrator resorted to intimidation, threatening to implicate the victim in a false case and even threatening him with death. This escalation from manipulation to coercion shows a malicious determination to achieve conversion regardless of consent. It removes all doubt about the motivations behind the act, it was not a dialogue of faiths, but a forced and hostile imposition of one religion over another. The Christian evangelist not only maligned Hinduism but also portrayed Christianity as superior to create fear and inferiority among Hindus. By insisting that only Jesus could wash away sins and by portraying Hindu beliefs as backwards and ineffective, the perpetrator was not merely promoting his own faith but actively dismantling the dignity and legitimacy of another. This form of religious brainwashing and ideological manipulation has no place in respectful interfaith engagement and instead serves as a weaponised tool of conversion. These actions are not about genuine spiritual seeking or voluntary religious transformation. They are targeted, ideologically motivated, and systematically executed to erase the Hindu identity of the victim. The language used, the inducements offered, and the threats made were all intended to force the victim to abandon Hinduism and adopt Christianity. As this effort stems entirely from religious hatred and seeks to harm the victim solely based on his faith, the case has been documented as a religiously motivated hate crime and added to the tracker. Disclaimer: While reports suggest that Christian missionaries were attempting to convert multiple Hindu visitors at the mall, only one individual, Rajesh, is explicitly mentioned as having been harassed and coerced for religious conversion. Therefore, for documentation purposes, the victim count has been conservatively recorded as one.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 1
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 5 to 10
Perpetrators Gender
both
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