Hindus lured with inducements to attend prayer meeting, forced to convert to Christianity in Chhattisgarh
Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India 
31 December, 2025
Case Summary
In Jondhra village, located in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, Hindus were offered inducements to attend Christian prayer meetings and then were forced to convert to Christianity by a pastor. According to media reports, a Christian prayer meeting was organised on New Year's Day, 1st January 2026, in Jondhra village located in the Pachpedi police station area. Hindus were lured with inducements such as food and health benefits to attend the prayer meeting. During this event, Hindus were forced to convert to Christianity. As soon as the villagers discovered this, they informed the police. Following this, the police reached the spot after the villagers' complaint. They controlled the situation and conducted a necessary inquiry. Subsequently, the police registered a case against the pastor. The police officials stated that they were investigating all facts and would take further action based on the findings of the investigation.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. The subcategory selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. 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 subcategory 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. In this case, Hindus were lured with incentives and were manipulated to convert to Christianity by a Christian pastor under the false pretext of attending a prayer meeting. The nature of the conversion efforts and the wider impact on the Hindu community all indicate a targeted action against Hindus as a collectivity. When individuals or groups focus their efforts on converting members of a particular religion, in this case, Hindus, then it demonstrates a fundamental disregard for the Hindu faith. Conversion, especially when not based on personal conviction but rather on external persuasion or pressure, is not simply about sharing a different belief system. It is an attempt to undermine the values, traditions, and identity of the Hindu community. In this context, the Christian perpetrator specifically targeted Hindus, which suggests a lack of respect for Hinduism and its followers. Such actions are carried out to strip Hindu victims of their faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. The act of targeting Hindus for forced conversion under the false pretext of attending prayer meetings shows the predatory nature of the crime. The term "prayer meeting" generally implies a spiritual gathering meant for sincere worship and reflection. However, in this situation, the prayer meeting was exploited as a deceptive tool to lure Hindus in. Instead of genuine spiritual engagement, the accused manipulated the event to brainwash and indoctrinate the Hindu victims with Christian theology, aiming to convert them against their will. This deliberate exploitation and targeting of a specific religious group, in this case, Hindus, underlines the religiously motivated nature of this hate crime. The use of incentives to encourage Christian conversion and attend prayer meetings clearly demonstrates that these actions were not motivated by kindness or charity. Instead, they were calculated attempts to exploit Hindus specifically because of their religion. By providing inducements to Hindus to change their faith, the Christian perpetrator was effectively emotionally blackmailing those Hindus who might have been desperate for assistance. 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 Hindus of their agency and dignity and enforces forced conversions. These are not random or isolated incidents, but rather are premeditated efforts to undermine the Hindu faith, persuade Hindus to discard their own faith, and convert to Christianity. Such acts are deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims and their faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. These instances of targeted proselytisation activities stem from inherent hostility towards the victims' professed faith since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent to their faith is subject to being dehumanised till they convert, making it a religiously motivated crime against Hindus. Therefore, this case is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker.
Case Status
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
