Hindus villagers offered inducements and their faith denigrated for Christian conversion under guise of prayer meeting
Dhenkanal, Odisha, India 
3 January, 2026
Case Summary
In the Parjang village of Dhenkanal district, Odisha, Hindu villagers were brainwashed and offered inducements for religious conversion under the guise of a prayer meeting by Christian pastor Bipin Bihari Naik. The pastor also abused and ridiculed Hindu deities to further manipulate Hindus for conversion. According to reports, Pastor Naik was delivering abusive remarks during his prayer sessions and demeaned Hindu spiritual traditions and mocked the reverence of Lord Jagannath and Gau Mata, which are deeply sacred symbols for local Hindu communities. Villagers stated that these remarks were made during the prayer meetings in an effort to convert people. He specifically targeted economically vulnerable villagers through promises of faith healing and other inducements for religious conversion. As opposition to his activities intensified, a group of around forty individuals, including local Bajrang Dal activists, gathered at the house where the prayer meeting was being held and forcibly entered the premises. They disrupted the prayer meeting and created a ruckus, leading to escalating tensions in the area. Police later intervened and registered a case against the pastor for forced religious conversion and deliberate insult to Hindu religious sentiments. As of the date of writing this report, the investigation was ongoing.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been documented under the selected primary category: Predatory proselytisation. Under this, the selected secondary category is: Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation, and subtle indoctrination. 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 proselytization, 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. The other sub-category selected is - Attempting to convert/converting by denigrating Hinduism. In several cases, Hindus are converted or an attempt is made to convert Hindus by denigrating their faith, Hinduism. In such cases, the Hindus associate with the non-Hindu perpetrators often by choice and then, the attempt to convert them by insulting their faith, showing the faith down etc begins. An example of this would be a non-Hindu gathering where the Hindus are attending the gathering of their own free will. However, once they attend the gathering, there is an explicit attempt to convert them by abusing their faith and hailing the faith of the perpetrator. The denigration of the Hindu faith is often based on misrepresentation of the Hindu faith, its doctrine and scriptures and insult to espoused traditions if not blatant lies about Hindu beliefs and ways. Such conversions or attempts at conversions are driven by animosity towards the Hindu faith and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. This case has been added to the tracker as Hindu villagers were specifically targeted and offered inducements for religious conversion by Christian pastor Bipin Bihari Naik. Firstly, the accused lured Hindus for conversion under the guise of a prayer meeting. What was presented as a simple prayer gathering 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. By conducting such gatherings, the Christian pastor sought to manipulate vulnerable Hindus, taking advantage of their emotional and social circumstances to push them towards conversion. Furthermore, the Changai Sabha format, commonly promoted as a faith-healing assembly, is a recognised mechanism within organised Christian proselytisation networks. Such gatherings typically rely on emotionally charged prayers, testimonies, and collective reinforcement to influence vulnerable individuals without openly disclosing the conversion objective. The lack of transparency is central to this method, as attendees initially believe they are seeking comfort or healing, only to be gradually exposed to narratives that undermine their religious identity and position Christianity as the sole solution to their suffering. Secondly, the conversion activity relied heavily on inducement-based coercion. The pastor specifically targeted economically vulnerable villagers through promises of faith healing and other inducements for religious 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. Thirdly, Pastor Naik also made abusive remarks targeting Hindu deities, demeaned Hindu spiritual traditions and mocked the reverence of Lord Jagannath and Gau Mata, which are deeply sacred symbols for local Hindu communities. This goes beyond religious debate or proselytisation; it constitutes an act of incitement and insult directed at the core beliefs of the Hindu community. Such remarks are designed to demean and undermine the faith of Hindus and intend to create an inferiority complex in the minds of the victims against their own faith. This fosters an environment of hostility and disrespect towards the Hindu community and Hindu deities. These acts of insulting Hinduism stem from Christian theology, which harbours disdain and hatred for polytheistic faiths, and which categorises Hindus as ‘polytheists’, thereby fostering hatred against them. Such actions make the religiously motivated nature of the crime even more evident. 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 tactics are designed not as acts of charity but as tools to engineer religious change under the guise of social upliftment, particularly among vulnerable and underprivileged communities. Because the core motivation of the act stems from hostility toward the victim’s religion, it meets the threshold of a hate crime. Hence, categorised as a hate crime in the database.
Case Status
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
