Hindu woman offered inducements and threatened for religious conversion by Christian woman in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh

Case ID : d326ebd | Location : Budaun, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 4 January, 2026

Case ID : d326ebd

Budaun, Uttar Pradesh, India

4 January, 2026

Hindu woman offered inducements and threatened for religious conversion by Christian woman in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh

Predatory Proselytisation

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Pattern of targeting Hindus

Case Summary

In the Bisauli town of Badaun district, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu woman, belonging to the Scheduled caste community, was offered inducements and threatened for religious conversion by a Christian woman. According to the complaint filed by the victim's husband, Saudan Kori, on 5 January 2026, the Christian woman visited his house in Gulab Bagh, around one o'clock in the afternoon. The accused approached Saudan's wife and urged her to convert to Christianity by offering her inducements. The accused also attempted to pressure her by threatening to make her life difficult if she refused to convert to Christianity. Saudan stated that the accused had come from a church located in Bisauli Fort and she often approaches local Hindu residents, engaging them in conversation to trap them and pressurise them into converting to Christianity. Following the incident, Saudan submitted a formal complaint to the Bisauli police station, prompting police to take note of the incident.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Predatory Proselytisation. Within it, 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 other sub-category selected is - Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion. Harassment covers a wide range of behaviours of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, including threats and coercion. Harassment and threats, in this case, find their root on discriminatory grounds which has the effect of nullifying a person’s rights or infringing upon his freedom to exercise his right specifically owing to the victim’s religious identity. Verbal and physical threats and psychological or physical harassment are often used against Hindu victims because they choose to practice their professed religion. Religious harassment also includes forced and involuntary conversions by harassment, threats or coercion. Coercion includes intimidatory tactics like force-feeding a Hindu victim beef to convert to another religion, forceful circumcision etc. In several cases documented, non-Hindu perpetrators or those who harbour specific animosity towards Hinduism, harass victims simply based on their religious identity. Such cases often also include harassment to ensure the Hindu victim abandons his/her professed religion and adopts the religion of the perpetrator. Such cases where Hindu victims are harassed to convert to the perpetrator’s religion are rooted in animosity towards the victim’s religious identity and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. The other 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. This case has been added to the tracker because a Hindu woman was offered inducements and threatened for religious conversion by a Christian woman. Firstly, the accused attempted to lure the victim for conversion by offering her inducements. Offering incentives or making false promises, 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 was effectively blackmailing the victim 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. Secondly, when the inducements failed, the accused also attempted to threaten the victim and pressure her for conversion. Pressuring a Hindu individual to discard her religious faith and embrace another was a direct attack on her religious identity and dignity. It was not a matter of personal choice; it was coercion rooted in hostility towards the victim's Hindu identity. The attempt reflected religious animosity because it sought not merely to influence belief but to erase the victim’s Hindu faith, thereby making it a religiously motivated act. Thirdly, the accused also attempted to convert other local Hindu residents. The nature of these conversion efforts and their wider impact on the Hindu community indicate targeted action against Hindus as a collectivity. When individuals or groups focus their efforts on converting members of a specific religion, in this case, Hindus, it demonstrates a fundamental disregard for that faith and its adherents. Conversion driven by external pressure rather than personal belief is not simply about sharing religious views; it is an attempt to undermine the values, traditions, and identity of the Hindu community. In this context, the Christian perpetrator specifically targeted Hindus, reflecting a lack of respect for Hinduism and its followers. The Christian faith, by its very theological foundations, places a strong emphasis on proselytisation. In pursuit of conversion objectives, Christian evangelists often employ unethical means, ranging from psychological pressure and misinformation to inducements such as money or jobs. 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. 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.