Hindu families misled and manipulated for religious conversion by Christian missionaries in Odisha

Case ID : d327237 | Location : Nabarangpur, Odisha, India | Date of Incident : Mon, 19 January, 2026

Case ID : d327237

Nabarangpur, Odisha, India

19 January, 2026

Hindu families misled and manipulated for religious conversion by Christian missionaries in Odisha

Predatory Proselytisation

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Pattern of targeting Hindus

Victim says was brainwashed/groomed

Case Summary

In the Nabarangpur district of Odisha, 13 Hindus belonging to three families were forcibly converted to Christianity by Christian missionaries through misleading and manipulation. This incident came to light when the victims decided to return to Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma) through a gharwapsi event, a religious ritual through which those Hindus who were forcibly converted to other faiths could return to their original faith. The families stated that they realised their mistake over time and voluntarily returned to their ancestral faith through a formal gharwapsi (homecoming) ceremony. According to reports, the individuals who reconverted belonged to three families from Kamata and Amalabhata villages under the Tentulikhunti block of Nabarangpur district. The return to Hinduism was carried out willingly and formally through a religious ritual conducted at Tapovan Ashram. The Gharwapsi ceremony was organised in accordance with traditional Vedic rites and rituals. Dilip Kumar Garda, from Kamata village, returned to Sanatan Dharma along with five members of his family. From Amalabhata village, six members of Gagan Bihari Garda’s family and two members of Praveen Kumar Garda’s family also reconverted. All the families participated together in the religious yagna and symbolically reaffirmed their faith by offering prayers at the feet of Lord Jagannath Mahaprabhu, a revered Hindu deity, marking their return to Sanatana Dharma. Several members of the local community were present on the occasion, including Garda community leader Prahlad Garad, Subhash Harijan, Loknath Harijan, Laxman Khura, Din Harijan and Trilochan Bisoyi. The religious ceremonies and Vedic rituals were conducted by Pujari Sarveshwar Tripathi. The victims stated that a few years earlier, they had been influenced and misled by Christian missionaries, which led them to distance themselves from the culture and traditions of their ancestors before converting to Christianity. They said that after conversion, their families gradually drifted away from traditional festivals, customs and social practices, and began following what they referred to as an alien culture. This, they said, caused a sense of regret and inner conflict. The families further stated that, after discussions with local Vishva Hindu Parishad workers, they reconsidered their decision and chose to return to their ancestral faith, Hinduism. Following the completion of the yagna and rituals, all the victims expressed happiness and said they were committed to leading disciplined, value-based and culturally rooted lives in the future. The Gharwapsi ceremony concluded peacefully in a religious and harmonious atmosphere, with participation and support from local residents. Meanwhile, local Hindu activists working in the area stated that Christian missionaries, backed by foreign funding, attempted to disconnect Hindus from their ancestral culture and traditions. They stated that forced religious conversions led to social disharmony and unnecessary tensions within communities, and accused foreign forces of attempting to weaken Indian society through such activities.

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. The tertiary categories selected are- Pattern of targeting Hindus, Victim says was brainwashed/groomed. 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. In this case, 13 Hindus from three families in Nabarangpur, Odisha, were forcibly converted to Christianity by Christian missionaries through misleading and manipulation. The nature of the conversion efforts and the wider impact on the Hindu community indicated 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, 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, suggesting a lack of respect for Hinduism and its followers. Such actions stripped Hindu victims of their faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. The use of manipulation and misleading tactics to convert Hindus to Christianity showcased malicious intent and animosity towards the victims' faith, making it a clear case of a hate crime rooted in anti-Hindu hostility. These methods preyed on vulnerabilities through false promises and psychological coercion, deliberately eroding trust in Sanatan Dharma (Hinduism) while imposing an alien faith, Christianity, thereby desecrating the spiritual autonomy and cultural heritage of the targeted Hindu victims. The fact that Hindus from three families across Kamata and Amalabhata villages were forcibly converted showed that these were not isolated incidents. This persistent pattern of targeting Hindus, luring them through deception and subjecting them to psychological manipulation served as a stark example of a religiously motivated crime. Such actions aimed to undermine the religious and cultural identity of Hindus through coercion, manipulation, and unlawful means. These incidents highlighted that the conversions were neither isolated nor accidental but formed part of a calculated and targeted strategy to convert Hindus to Christianity. By focusing specifically on Hindus, these Christian missionaries profiled vulnerable individuals and worked systematically to erase their Hindu identity. The repeated nature of these actions revealed a deliberate intent to disrupt the cultural fabric and faith of the community, leaving the victims exposed to ongoing pressure and exploitation. The fact that all Hindu victims ultimately returned to their ancestral faith through the Gharwapsi programme revealed the emotional and spiritual torment they suffered after conversion, underscoring this as a religiously motivated hate crime. Their resolve to reclaim Hinduism testified to the psychological scars left by the missionaries' coercion, as they rejected the hollow promises and confronted the alienation from their roots. This homecoming exposed how the conversions had uprooted them, stripping away cultural identity and inner peace, leaving them adrift in spiritual exile. These instances of targeted proselytisation activities stem from inherent hostility towards the victims' professed faith, since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent is subject to dehumanisation until conversion, making it a religiously motivated crime against Hindus. Therefore, this case was added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incident dates based on when the victims' ordeal begins, rather than when the media reports it. However, in this case, media reports did not specify the exact date from when the victims' ordeal started, only vaguely stating it occurred a few years earlier, with their forcible conversion. Hence, the media report date of 20 January 2026 is selected as the indicative incident date for documentation purposes.