Hindu villagers, including children, targeted and offered inducements for religious conversion by Christian pastor

Case ID : d326fed | Location : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 10 January, 2026

Case ID : d326fed

Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India

10 January, 2026

Hindu villagers, including children, targeted and offered inducements for religious conversion by Christian pastor

Predatory Proselytisation

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Conversion of minor

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Case Summary

In Bilaspur district, Chhattisgarh, Hindu villagers, including women and children, were targeted and offered inducements for Christian conversion by Pastor Ramkumar Kewat, who organised a prayer meeting at his residence. The incident took place in the Dabbhapara area, where Pastor Ramkumar Kewat organised a prayer gathering at his residence and invited a large number of Hindu villagers from the village and its surrounding rural areas. Around 30 to 35 women, men and children, all belonging to Hindu families, were present at the meeting. The gathering was presented as a prayer session and faith-based healing programme/healing meeting, during which participants were told that special prayers would cure chronic illnesses. Inducements were also offered in the form of food and material assistance to further push Hindus towards conversion. When members of local Hindu organisations received information about such illegal conversion activities, they approached the Malhar Police Station and submitted a formal complaint. Police promptly reached the location, stopped the meeting and conducted an investigation. Based on the evidence, the police arrested Pastor Ramkumar Kewat for inciting religious conversion. A case was registered against him under Section 299 of the Indian Penal Code, he was produced before the court and remanded to judicial custody. Local residents stated that such illegal conversion activities disrupted communal harmony and created tension within the village.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. The subcategory selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, with the tertiary category being - Conversion of minor. 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 subcategory 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 case has been added to the tracker because Hindu villagers, including women and children, were targeted and offered inducements for Christian conversion by Pastor Ramkumar Kewat. Firstly, the accused lured Hindus for conversion under the guise of a prayer gathering/healing meeting. What was presented as a simple prayer gathering inside a house was in reality a covert attempt at religious conversion. These were not genuine community prayers but calculated efforts to exploit the trust of Hindus and manipulate them into abandoning their faith. The pastor deliberately held the meeting in secrecy, indicating a deliberate and deceptive strategy designed to avoid public attention and scrutiny. By conducting such gatherings covertly, the accused sought to manipulate vulnerable Hindus, taking advantage of their emotional and social circumstances to push them towards conversion. Secondly, the Changai Sabha format, often described publicly as a faith healing gathering/healing meeting, is a well-recognised tool in organised Christian proselytisation networks. These meetings usually employ songs, testimonies and emotionally charged prayer sessions to influence and induce vulnerable individuals without openly declaring the underlying objective. The absence of transparency is itself central to the method. People attend believing they are seeking comfort, healing or spiritual support, only to be gradually drawn into teachings that undermine their own religious identity and introduce them to the Christian framework presented as the only path to relief. Thirdly, the accused also offered inducements in the form of food and material assistance to lure Hindu villagers for conversion. 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 or promising healing in exchange for conversion, the accused were effectively blackmailing those 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. Fourth, it was reported that children were also present at the prayer gathering and were being manipulated for conversion. Since some of the victims were minors, this means the element of consent and genuine change of conscience was missing ab initio. Minors, due to their young age and lack of maturity, are particularly vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. They may not have the ability to fully understand the implications of converting to another religion, and the Christian perpetrator purposely targeted and exploited this vulnerability of the victim. Such acts are not merely criminal in nature; they are ideologically charged, revealing religious prejudice and a calculated intent to alter the religious identity of a minor without their volition. 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. 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: Media reports state that around 35 Hindu villagers, including men, women and children, were targeted for conversion, but no gender-wise or age-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 patterns. Accordingly, the 35 participants are estimated as 18 men (50%) and 17 women (50%), reflecting an equal gender distribution consistent with typical rural family demographics. As the age-wise segregation was also not specified in the media report, the Hinduphobia Tracker has used a proportional demographic estimate derived from the same data sources. Accordingly, the 35 participants are estimated as 25 adults (70%) and 10 children (30%).