Hindus forced into conversion through inducements during prayer meeting in Kanker village, Chhattisgarh
Kanker, Chhattisgarh, India 
3 January, 2026
Case Summary
In Kanker village, Chhattisgarh, Hindus were offered inducements to attend Christian prayer meetings and were then forced to convert to Christianity by Sukhdar Mandavi on 04 January 2026. According to reports, a prayer meeting was being held at the home of Sukhdar Mandavi in Devdongar village. During the prayer meeting, inducements were offered to Hindu villagers to convert them to Christianity. Upon receiving the information, a large number of villagers gathered at the scene and shouted slogans to stop the meeting. The villagers stated that they wanted to preserve their traditional beliefs and indigenous culture. They clarified that they would not allow any outsiders to preach religion or mislead people in the village. The villagers demanded that the administration immediately intervene in the matter and put a stop to the missionaries’ activities. Given the seriousness of the situation, the local administration and police were informed. Surveillance was carried out to maintain peace in the area.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category selected is Predatory Proselytisation. The secondary categories 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. This incident qualifies as a religiously motivated hate crime because Hindu tribal families were deliberately targeted based on their Hindu religious identity, with the explicit aim of severing them from their ancestral faith. The activities were not random or voluntary expressions of belief change, but structured and sustained efforts by Christian missionaries to interfere with Hindu religious life in remote tribal villages of Kanker. The focus on Hindu households, repeated engagement through prayer meetings, and use of religious messaging aimed at replacing Hindu belief systems demonstrate intentional religious targeting. It is important to note that the Hindu community of Kanker has preserved its culture and traditions. The villagers themselves have strongly asserted that they want to preserve their dharma and Sanatan roots. They do not incline to adopt another religion or worship a different deity, as their customs and devotion are deeply entrenched in their way of life. Therefore, a deliberate and more concentrated attempt is made against these very communities to convert them by Christian missionaries. 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. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when an event occurred or when the victim's ordeal began and not when the incident was reported in the media. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date as 04 January 2026.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
