Hindu villagers offered inducements, their faith denigrated for forced religious conversion by Christian missionaries in Maharashtra
Amravati, Maharashtra, India 
29 December, 2025
Case Summary
In the Shingori village of Amravati district, Maharashtra, Hindu villagers were targeted and offered inducements for religious conversion by Christian missionaries led by Father Sudhir, a priest from Kerala. The perpetrators organised a prayer meeting under the guise of a Christmas event, where they also insulted Hinduism to push people towards conversion. According to reports, a prayer meeting was organised on 30 December 2025 under the guise of a Christmas event at the house of a Christian man named Ritesh Shankarrao Bondre, who had erected a temporary pavilion outside his house. A complaint was then filed by a local resident, Laxman Devidas Shende, who stated that some outsiders had arrived at the prayer gathering and were luring Hindus for religious conversion. He noted that a man dressed in white was addressing Hindu villagers about Christianity and offering them money, belittling Hinduism to push them towards converting to Christianity. Based on the complaint, the police registered a case and arrested the main accused, Ritesh Shankarrao Bondre. The priest conducting the prayer meeting was identified as Father Sudhir, and his wife, Jasmine, was also taken into custody. After interrogation, seven other accused were identified and arrested, including individuals from Maharashtra and Kerala and four women. The arrests took place on the evening of 30 December 2025, and a total of fourteen people were arrested, including twelve who later arrived at the police station to enquire about the initial arrests. The accused were produced before the Varud court, where some of them were granted bail. It is important to note here that Father Sudhir William John William was originally from Amaravila area in Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala, and had been serving in Maharashtra for the past five years, affiliated with the Church of South India (CSI) Kerala Diocese’s Nagpur Mission, along with his wife, Jasmine.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category selected in this case is- Predatory Proselytisation. The sub-category selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected is- 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 other sub-category selected here 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 other subcategory 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. This case has been added to the tracker because Hindu villagers were targeted and lured with inducements for religious conversion by an organised group linked to Christian missionaries. Firstly, the nature of the conversion efforts, conducted through a structured prayer gathering and directed exclusively at Hindus, indicated a targeted action against the Hindu community as a collectivity. When individuals or groups focused their efforts on converting members of a particular religion, they demonstrated a fundamental disregard for the Hindu faith. Conversion driven by inducements and persuasion, rather than personal conviction, went beyond the mere sharing of beliefs and amounted to an attempt to undermine the values, traditions, and religious identity of the Hindu community. The selective targeting of Hindus reflected religious hostility and constituted a religiously motivated offence. Secondly, what was presented as a Christmas prayer meeting was, in substance, an attempt at religious conversion. The complaint revealed that outsiders were brought into the village and that preaching activity was directed at Hindu villagers, accompanied by offers of money to encourage conversion. These were not spontaneous or neutral religious prayers but organised efforts designed to influence and redirect the religious beliefs of Hindus. The manner in which the gathering was conducted demonstrated an intent to use religious instruction as a tool for conversion rather than community worship. By conducting such gatherings, the Christian missionaries sought to manipulate vulnerable Hindus, taking advantage of their emotional and social circumstances to push them towards converting to Christianity. Thirdly, the perpetrators also attempted to lure Hindus to convert by offering them money. Offering incentives, especially when directed at vulnerable individuals in need, shows that these incentives are not acts of kindness or charity. Instead, they are calculated moves to exploit vulnerable Hindus because of their religion. By providing inducements in exchange for conversion, the accused were effectively blackmailing those who might have been desperate for assistance or hope. Such instances are seen in many cases where members of Christian missionary groups target socially and economically vulnerable Hindus to further their agenda of religious conversions. This form of coercion strips people of their agency and dignity and results in coerced conversions. These are not random or isolated incidents, but rather cases deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims. Fourth, it was also revealed that Hindu villagers were misled about their own faith during the preaching activity. This goes beyond religious debate or proselytisation; it constitutes an act of incitement and insult directed at the core beliefs of the Hindu community. Such actions are designed to demean and undermine the faith of Hindus and intend to create an inferiority complex in the minds of the victims against their own faith. This fosters an environment of hostility and disrespect towards the Hindu community and their faith. These acts of insulting Hinduism stem from Christian theology, which harbours disdain and hatred for polytheistic faiths, and which categorises Hindus as ‘polytheists’, thereby fostering hatred against them. Such actions make the religiously motivated nature of the crime even more evident. The Christian faith, by its very theological foundations, places a strong emphasis on proselytisation. This systematic attempt to dismantle the religious foundations of Hindu individuals and redirect them toward conversion reflected clear religious animus against Hindu identity. Since the core motivation of the act arose from hostility toward the victims’ religion and involved inducement-based targeting of Hindus as a group, the incident met the threshold of a hate crime. Accordingly, this case is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker.
Case Status
Case sub-judice
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 10 to 100
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
