Tribal Hindu villagers targeted for religious conversion through healing assurances by Christian missionaries

Case ID : d326edf | Location : Mayurbhanj, Odisha, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 3 January, 2026

Case ID : d326edf

Mayurbhanj, Odisha, India

3 January, 2026

Tribal Hindu villagers targeted for religious conversion through healing assurances by Christian missionaries

Predatory Proselytisation

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Pattern of targeting Hindus

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Case Summary

In the Mayurbhanj district, Odisha, around 151 Hindu villagers from 30 Vanavasi families belonging to the Santhal, Ho and Gond communities were brainwashed for religious conversion under the lure of curing illnesses by Christian missionaries. All individuals later returned to Hinduism during a Ghar Wapsi ceremony, a Hindu reversion event where those who had been coerced into conversion came back to their original faith. According to reports, Hindu villagers converted to Christianity and distanced themselves from their traditional faith and cultural practices several years ago, after coming into contact with Christian missionaries. During this time, some Hindu families faced serious illness, and Christian pastors, taking advantage of the situation, presented religious conversion as a solution to health and well-being concerns. Believing their assurances, Hindu villagers converted to Christianity, believing it would bring them relief. After conversion, the families experienced sustained social and cultural isolation, as they were no longer able to participate in traditional festivals, rituals, and collective community life. This separation from ancestral customs and village networks resulted in prolonged mental distress and a growing sense of cultural dislocation. Over time, the families recognised that the process had weakened their connection to their own people and traditions. Continuous engagement by Hindu activists associated with Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram and Janjati Suraksha Manch led to discussions explaining that medical conditions required proper healthcare rather than religious conversion. Following these interactions, the families collectively decided to return to their native faith through a Ghar wapsi ceremony, which they described as restoring dignity, identity and cultural belonging. Subsequently, the Ghar wapsi ceremony was organised on 4 January 2026, across the villages of Bagdafa, Jamnanda and Dangadihia and witnessed participation from hundreds of tribal residents from surrounding areas. The events were attended by several public figures and social workers, including former Union Minister Bishweshwar Tudu, who addressed the gathering and criticised forced religious conversions among tribal communities. The ceremony concluded with traditional blessings delivered by Ho community religious leader Manay Purti, marking the reintegration of the families into their ancestral religious and cultural framework.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Predatory Proselytisation. Within it, the subcategory selected is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. Under this, the tertiary category selected 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. The other sub-category selected here 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 case has been added to the tracker because Hindu villages were brainwashed for religious conversion under the lure of curing illnesses by Christian missionaries. The missionaries converted Hindu villagers under the guise of curing illness and promising healing, thereby exploiting periods of medical distress and emotional vulnerability within Hindu families. The use of healing assurances functioned as an inducement rather than an act of unconditional compassion. By linking relief from illness to religious conversion, the missionaries leveraged vulnerability, desperation and hope to influence religious decisions. These actions were not acts of charity or compassion; instead, they functioned as calculated strategies to exploit Hindus on the basis of religion. By promising healing and manipulating Hindu villagers for conversion, the accused were effectively blackmailing those who might have been desperate for assistance or hope. The targeting of Vanavasi Hindu families from the Santhal, Ho and Gond communities reflected a pattern of religiously motivated intervention directed at vulnerable Hindu populations living in remote and economically marginalised areas of Odisha. The conversions were not incidental or voluntary in nature but were facilitated through calculated engagement during periods of illness, distress and social vulnerability. 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 perpetrators specifically targeted Hindus, which demonstrates 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 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. In such cases, Christian missionary groups often target and brainwash 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 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 thus amount to a clear instance of a religiously motivated crime. Disclaimer: Media reports stated that around 151 Hindu villagers from 30 families, including men and women, were converted to Christianity, but no gender-wise breakdown was provided. For documentation clarity, the Hinduphobia Tracker has applied a proportional demographic estimate based on India’s Census 2011 and NFHS-5 (2019–21) rural population data. Accordingly, the 151 participants are estimated as 76 men (50%) and 75 women (50%), reflecting an equal gender distribution consistent with typical rural family demographics. 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 the media sources covering this case have not specified the exact date when the Hindu families were converted. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the Ghar wapsi ceremony was conducted, 4 January 2026.