Minor Hindu boys targeted through organised prayer meetings and offered inducements for religious conversion by Christian pastors

Case ID : d327148 | Location : Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Wed, 14 January, 2026

Case ID : d327148

Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, India

14 January, 2026

Minor Hindu boys targeted through organised prayer meetings and offered inducements for religious conversion by Christian pastors

Predatory Proselytisation

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Conversion of minor

Pattern of targeting Hindus

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Case Summary

In the Ambedi village of Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh, two minor Hindu boys were targeted through organised prayer meetings and offered inducements for religious conversion by Christian pastors. According to reports, the incident occurred on 15 January 2026, when a prayer meeting was held at the residence of a Christian pastor named Harsingh Meda, during which Manusingh Mowadi, a resident of Jhabua district, played an active role. Hindu villagers from the village were drawn into the house under the pretext of prayer and spiritual healing, where posters and books related to Christianity were displayed, and group prayers were conducted. During the gathering, participants were promised miraculous cures for ailments such as pain in the hands and feet, along with material inducements including expensive mobile phones, but were subsequently instructed to renounce Hinduism and embrace Christianity. During this time, a minor Hindu boy was lured into the house to attend the prayer meeting. Sometime later, the minor's friend arrived looking for him, after which both were pressured for religious conversion. The minor boys later informed the village head and other residents about such conversion activities. As awareness spread, villagers confronted the situation and later gathered at the police station at night, submitting a written complaint and demanding strict action. Police teams reached the village, recorded statements from multiple residents who confirmed the sequence of events, and recovered Christian posters and books from the premises. A case was registered under provisions of the Madhya Pradesh Religious Freedom Act, 2021, against Manusingh Mowadi and Harsingh Meda for engaging in unlawful religious conversion activities through inducement and deception. Both accused were arrested late that night, produced before the court on Friday, and remanded to judicial custody, while the investigation continued due to the seriousness of the offence and the involvement of vulnerable individuals.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. Within this, the tertiary categories selected are- 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 the 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 proselytisation, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. The other 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. This case has been added to the tracker because two minor Hindu boys were targeted through organised prayer meetings and offered inducements for religious conversion by Christian pastors. Firstly, what was presented as a routine prayer meeting inside a private house in Ambedi village was, in reality, a concealed attempt at religious conversion. The gathering was not a genuine act of community prayer but a calculated effort to draw Hindus into an environment where they were pressured to abandon their faith and accept Christianity. The meeting was conducted privately, without any administrative permission, reflecting a deliberate strategy to avoid public visibility and scrutiny. By holding the event in secrecy, the organisers exploited the trust of local Hindu villagers and attempted to manipulate them under the guise of spiritual healing and prayer. Secondly, it is important to note here that the victims were minors, which 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. Since this case exemplifies the use of coercion and manipulation to achieve religious conversion, it is a blatant act of religious hate, which is why it has been documented here in the hate tracker. Thirdly, the actions of the accused demonstrated clear religious hostility, as the victims were explicitly asked to renounce Hinduism and embrace Christianity. Pressuring Hindu individuals to abandon their faith constituted a direct attack on their religious identity and dignity. This was not an exercise of personal belief or free expression but a coercive act rooted in animosity towards the victims’ Hindu identity, with the intent of erasing and replacing it. Such conduct transformed the incident into a religiously motivated offence rather than a private religious gathering. Fourth, inducements were used as tools of coercion. Promises of curing physical ailments such as pain in the hands and feet, along with assurances of expensive mobile phones, were extended to the victims in exchange 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 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 Fifth, the presence and use of Christian religious posters and books inside the house further reinforced the intent to indoctrinate the Hindu victims. Using the scriptures or literature of one faith to deliberately target and manipulate members of another, with the clear intention of religious conversion, represents a direct attack on the Hindu faith. 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 further 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. 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. Taken together, the covert organisation of the prayer meeting, the targeting of minors, the pressure to renounce Hinduism, the use of inducements, and the deployment of religious literature established that this was not an isolated or benign incident.