Hundreds of Hindus targeted for forced Christian conversion by pastor who claims to 'cure' illnesses

Case ID : d32719f | Location : Chapra, Bihar, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 10 January, 2026

Case ID : d32719f

Chapra, Bihar, India

10 January, 2026

Hundreds of Hindus targeted for forced Christian conversion by pastor who claims to 'cure' illnesses

Predatory Proselytisation

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Pattern of targeting Hindus

Case Summary

In Chhapra, Bihar, a group of 500 Hindus, including men and women, were manipulated for Christian conversion by a pastor named Paniya Baba alias Vaidyaji, who promised to cure diseases by distributing 'magical water'. According to media reports, on 18th January 2026, in the Roja neighbourhood of Chhapra city, the accused, Paniya Baba, deceived local Hindu residents into religious conversions and offered them water after praying over it. The accused promised that drinking the water he had purified could cure even incurable diseases. This promise drew a large crowd of local Hindu men and women to the area. As local crowds gathered, this turned into a controversy. Over five hundred people attended the gathering. The accused, a resident of Nepal's Parsa district, urged people to drink water while meditating on Jesus Christ. Upon receiving information about the gathering, Chhapra Municipal Corporation Mayor Lakshmi Narayan Gupta arrived at the scene along with the Mahant of the Dharam Dhanni Temple. Upon them arriving at the scene, the atmosphere became tense. The accused's supporters and followers manhandled the mayor. This incident sparked outrage among local Hindu residents, and the police were called to control the situation. Regarding the matter, Sadar Sub-Divisional Officer Nitesh Kumar stated that Paniya Baba had not obtained any permission from the administration for any gathering in the Roja neighbourhood. He added that local residents filed a written complaint with the city police station. The administration initiated an investigation into the matter and would take further action after the investigation. Hindu residents of the neighbourhood said that a similar gathering occurred at the same location on 11 January 2026. They stated that the accused misled innocent people by preaching about Christianity. This created an atmosphere of tension in the neighbourhood. Notably, this was not the first time; the accused targeted Hindus for conversion in this manner. Previously, Hinduphobia Tracker documented another such incident. In September 2025, in Saran, Bihar, Hindus were targeted for Christian conversion by Vikas Chaudhary, alias Vaidyaji or Paniya Baba. He lured Hindus to convert to Christianity under the pretext of curing diseases. He also denigrated Hindu deities and insulted Hindu temples by stating, "Demons reside in temples." Hindu locals stated that the pastor enticed people into converting to Christianity. He offered locals ‘magical water’, promising it would cure all diseases.

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- 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 subcategory selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. 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. This case constitutes a clear instance of a hate crime against Hindus as the Christian perpetrator, a pastor from Nepal, targeted them by offering inducements under the guise of curing diseases. He promised a "magic water" that he said could heal any illness, including severe conditions. Such inducements were not acts of kindness or humanitarian concern but were deliberate, premeditated efforts aimed at coercing Hindus to abandon their ancestral faith and convert to Christianity. This systematic targeting demonstrates deep religious animosity towards the Hindu victims and their beliefs, making it a religiously motivated crime. The use of medicinal promises as a tool for conversion is manipulative and exploitative. It preys on vulnerable individuals’ trust and health fears, effectively deceiving them and undermining their religious identity. This manipulation harms both their physical well-being and religious autonomy, making it a malicious form of coercion beyond mere persuasion. Such acts of forcing Hindus to convert by exploiting their health concerns showcase the predatory nature of the act, making it a hate-driven offence. The pastor even compelled Hindus to drink the "magical water" and pray to Jesus Christ. Forcing devoted Hindus to bow before foreign deities crushed their dignity, subtly infiltrating their lives with coercive Christian indoctrination. These predatory conversions were no gentle nudge but aggressive assaults on the Hindu faith and its adherents, showcasing the religious motivations behind the crime. Moreover, this was no lone attack on one person. Several Hindus in the area faced the same ruthless tactics, exposing a slick, organised conversion racket. The pastor ran identical operations in September 2025 with his "healing water" ploy, etching a grim pattern of hunting vulnerable Hindus in a relentless, hate-driven, predatory conversion campaign. Ultimately, such predatory proselytisation practices originate from doctrinal hostility towards Hinduism. Abrahamic faiths foster disdain for non-adherents until they convert, forming the ideological basis of these anti-Hindu actions. This case stood as a clear example of doctrinal enmity directed at Hinduism. Given these factors, the incident was duly documented in the Hinduphobia Tracker’s Hate Crime database. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records the date of an incident based on when the crime or victims' ordeal actually began, rather than when it was reported by the media or recently surfaced. In this case, the accused conducted a conversion event on 18 January 2026, following a similar gathering on 11 January 2026. Therefore, for documentation purposes, the official incident date stands as 11 January 2026, marking the start of the victims' suffering. Media reports stated that around 500 Hindus, including men and women, were targeted for conversion by pastor Paniya Baba in Chhapra, Bihar, but provided no gender-wise breakdown. For documentation clarity, the Hinduphobia Tracker applied a proportional demographic estimate based on India’s Census 2011 and NFHS-5 (2019–21) rural population data. Accordingly, the 500 participants are estimated as 250 men (50%) and 250 women (50%), reflecting an equal gender distribution consistent with typical rural family demographics.