Hindus villagers converted through religious prayer meetings by Christians in Varanasi, UP
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India 
3 January, 2026
Case Summary
In Duniyapur village of Varanasi, a large number of Hindu villagers, mainly Hindu women, were converted during a religious prayer meeting held at the accused's house on January 4, 2026. According to reports, a prayer meeting was held at the house of the accused in Duniyapur village of the Baragaon area. A large number of Hindu women were forced to attend the prayer meet. Under the guise of prayer meetings, the Christians were converting the Hindu women. Upon receiving the information about the conversion activities, Hindu organisations like VHP and others reached the scene. Thereafter, VHP submitted a complaint to the police. The Baragaon police took three accused into custody and began an investigation.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category selected is Predatory Proselytisation. The 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 second sub- category selected is Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. Further, a tertiary category selected under it 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. In this case, the accused called people to their homes, conducted prayer meetings based on Christian religious scriptures, and forced them to change their religion. This case has been added to the tracker firstly because Hindu villagers were targeted and manipulated for religious conversion through Christian religious texts by three Christian evangelists. The accused also conducted prayer gatherings in the village and conducted prayers in the name of Jesus. What is presented as a simple prayer gathering inside a house is, in reality, a covert attempt at religious conversion. These are not genuine community prayers but calculated efforts to exploit the trust of Hindus and manipulate them into abandoning their faith. It is a well-recognised tool in organised Christian proselytisation networks. These gatherings usually employ songs, testimonies and emotionally charged prayer sessions to influence and induce vulnerable individuals without openly declaring the underlying objective. By conducting such gatherings, the Christian evangelists sought to manipulate vulnerable Hindus, taking advantage of their emotional and social circumstances to push them towards conversion. Secondly, the focus on Hindu households, repeated engagement through prayer meetings, and use of religious messaging aimed at replacing Hindu belief systems demonstrates a patter of intentional religious targeting. It is noteworthy to mention that 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. Such actions are designed to violate and undermine the beliefs of Hindu victims and are clear indicators of religious hostility towards Hindus and their religious identity. Such actions demonstrate that this was not an isolated incident of evangelism, but rather part of a broader, organised operation to further religious conversions. When Christian religious material is used to exploit trust, sow doubt, and misrepresent the beliefs of Hindus to coerce conversion, particularly in a systematic manner, it constitutes a religiously motivated offence. 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: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when an event occurred or when the victim's ordeal began. It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case has specified the exact date when the victim's ordeal began. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media - 04 January 2026.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
