Case Summary

Hindu man and villagers offered monetary benefits, job and marriage inducements to convert to Christianity by four accused Christians in Pilkhini, Jaunpur, UP on 31st December 2025. The police arrested the accused persons. The Hindu man, Vipin Kumar, a resident of Pilkhini village, Jaunpur, filed a complaint before the Station House Officer of Gaurabadshahpur Police Station against ongoing religious conversion activities. He stated that the accused, namely Dharmendra, son of Sivlik; Dharmendra's son Rajesh, a resident of Muftiganj; Shyam Pravesh, son of Ramadhari, a resident of Kirtipur; and Bodden, son of Sikdi, a resident of Gaurabadshahpur, had been continuously luring poor and economically backward people from nearby villages. The accused offered inducements to poor Hindu families by stating that those who abandoned their Hindu religion and accepted Christianity would be given a large sum of money. They also assured that marriages would be arranged with a woman from the Christian community and that employment would be provided to those who agreed to convert. The accused called people to their homes, conducted prayer meetings based on Christian religious scriptures, and forced them to change their religion. During these prayer meetings, Hindu gods and goddesses were described as false, while Jesus Christ was glorified in order to create pressure to adopt Christianity. Upon receipt of the complaint, the police conducted a raid in the area and recovered objectionable items from the spot, including a Christian hymn rosary, a hymn collection register, and two Android mobile phones. Thereafter, the police arrested four accused persons, while several others escaped from the scene. A charge sheet was subsequently filed against the accused, and they were charged under Section 196(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, Section 3 of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2021, and Section 5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2021

Case Images

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case had been added to the tracker under the primary category of: Predatory proselytisation. Under this, the sub-category selected is: Convesion/ attempt 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 sub-category selected here is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation, or subtle indoctrination. Under this, the selected tertiary category 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. This case has been added to the tracker because a Hindu man named Vipin Kumar and other poor villagers were pressured for religious conversion by Christian extremists. Pressuring a Hindu individual to discard his religious faith and embrace another was 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. Such an attempt reflected 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. Similarly, other family members were also pressured for religious conversion by the accused. The Christian faith, by its theological foundations, places a strong emphasis on proselytisation. In pursuit of conversion objectives, Christian evangelists often employ unethical means, ranging from psychological pressure by glorifying Jesus Christ and by offering monetary inducements coupled with false promises of jobs and better marriages. This is not a one-time offence. Such cases have been reported in Jaunpur continuously. Many offenders have been arrested by police attempting to lure and convert the poor Hindus into Christianity, either by hook or by crook. Those who refuse to convert are threatened with false cases and suffering economic loss relating to their crops. Therefore, these cases are recorded as hate crimes under the tracker. Such actions stem from inherent hostility towards the victim's professed faith, since Abrahamic faiths hold beliefs that devalue non-adherents until conversion occurs. This systematic attempt to erode the religious foundation of individuals and replace it with allegiance to another faith reflected deep religious malice and animus against Hindu identity. Because the core motivation of the act stemmed from hostility towards the victim’s religion, it met the threshold of a hate crime and was therefore categorised as such in the database. 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. The earliest date mentioned is 31 December 2025, when the victim was pressured for conversion by two men. 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 31 December 2025, though the media reported the incident on 4 January 2026.