Hindu patient drugged, threatened and coerced by Christian priest and hospital staff for conversion to Christianity in Mau, UP
Mau, Uttar Pradesh, India 
16 January, 2026
Case Summary
In Mau, a Hindu patient was drugged, threatened with sexual exploitation and prostitution, and coerced by the Christian priest, Fatima Hospital’s administrator and associates to convert to Christianity. A FIR was lodged at the Kotwali police station area of Mau, where the Hindu patient was pressured to convert to Christianity under the guise of treatment. As per the complaint, on 17 January 2026, Sahadatpura resident Radheshyam Singh took his wife to Fatima Hospital after she fell ill. The hospital administrator directed the Hindu victim to visit Savita, wife of Laxman Gautam, behind the White Palace, at 10 a.m. on 18 January 2026. The administrator further claimed that his wife would receive better treatment there and all her ailments would be cured. According to the complainant, when he arrived on 18 January, he found over 50 people gathered, with a priest distributing intoxicants as “Prasad of Lord Jesus.” The accused asked him to administer the “Prasad of Lord Jesus” to his wife and family, with promises of healing. The priest, whose name and address were unknown, and others present there, including Laxman Gautam, Santosh Sahni, Abhishek, Amit Kumar Saurabh, Udaybhan, Indrajit Maurya, Rita, and Savita, began pressuring the complainant to convert to Christianity. When he resisted, the accused threatened him and threatened to prevent him from leaving. The complainant stated that “When I protested against this, these people said that now that you have come here, you will not be able to get out of it. Prostitution also happens here. If you cooperate, you will become rich. Somehow, I called my friends and informed the police. After some time, the police arrived, after which everyone started leaving.” Thereafter, the victim lodged a complaint at Kotwali police station, naming Laxman Gautam, Abhishek, Udaybhan, Rita, Amit Kumar Saurabh, Indrajit Maurya, Savita, and Santosh Sahni, along with the hospital administrator and priest. Kotwal Anil Kumar Singh confirmed that an FIR was registered, eight accused were arrested from Nizamuddinpura, and materials related to conversion were seized. He stated that such groups often targeted vulnerable families suffering from illness and exploited low education levels with false promises of cures.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category included in the case is Predatory Proselytisation. The sub-category 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 second sub-category is- Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion. Harassment covers a wide range of behaviours of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, including threats and coercion. Harassment and threats, in this case, find their root on discriminatory grounds, which has the effect of nullifying a person’s rights or infringing upon his freedom to exercise his right specifically owing to the victim’s religious identity. Verbal and physical threats and psychological or physical harassment are often used against Hindu victims because they choose to practice their professed religion. Religious harassment also includes forced and involuntary conversions by harassment, threats or coercion. Coercion includes intimidatory tactics like force-feeding a Hindu victim beef to convert to another religion, forceful circumcision, etc. In several cases documented, non-Hindu perpetrators or those who harbour specific animosity towards Hinduism, harass victims simply based on their religious identity. Such cases often also include harassment to ensure the Hindu victim abandons his/her professed religion and adopts the religion of the perpetrator. Such cases, where Hindu victims are harassed to convert to the perpetrator’s religion, are rooted in animosity towards the victim’s religious identity and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. The third sub-category selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected is Victim says was brainwashed/groomed, Rape and sexual assault/harassment, 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. This case was included in the hate crime tracker because the Hindu victim Radheshyam Singh's testimony revealed a deliberate and hostile attempt to exploit the vulnerability of the victim under the guise of medical treatment. They were offered “Prasad of Jesus” with promises that all diseases would be cured, a signature method used by Christian evangelists to convince helpless or help‑seeking individuals that miracles work in Christianity. This inducement targeted the weak points of the victim, knowing that his wife was ill and desperate for healing. When inducement failed, the victims were harassed and threatened with prostitution, told that cooperation would bring wealth, and coerced to surrender faith and convert. The threats of sexual exploitation and promises of money showed how far the perpetrators were willing to go to break the victim’s will. Such harassment and coercion went beyond persuasion, directly attacking dignity and safety. The methods employed reflected a wider pattern of evangelist activity, where grooming, manipulation, and subtle indoctrination are used to pressure Hindus into conversion. These tactics exploit illness, poverty, and low education levels, creating a cycle of targeting vulnerable families. The police themselves confirmed that materials related to conversion were seized and that such groups often operate in this manner. Therefore, this case is recorded under the tracker. Disclaimer: In this case, the victim stated that around 50 people were present at the scene. However, the complaint only records the victim and his wife’s account. Therefore, the victim count has been recorded as 2. The Hinduphobia Tracker records the date of an incident based on when a crime occurs rather than when it is reported by the media. Therefore, the date 17th January 2026 has been selected as the incident date, though the media reported the case on 31st January. It is clarified that among the 10 accused persons, only 8 were arrested by the police. 2 were absconding.
Victim Details
Total Victim
2
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 2
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 2
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 5 to 10
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
