Hindu man attacked for opposing forced Christian conversions using inducements and false promises of curing diseases
Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, India 
6 February, 2026
Case Summary
In Raipur village of Khandwa district in Madhya Pradesh, Hindus were targeted for forced Christian conversions through the use of inducements and false promises of curing illnesses by Christian evangelists, namely Navalsingh Barela, Dashrath Vishwakarma, and Ramesh Barela. When one of the victims, a Hindu man, opposed these conversions, he was subjected to brutal physical assault and death threats by the perpetrators. According to reports, this occurred in the Piplod police station area of Khandwa. The incident came to light when the victim, Vijay Kumar Rathore (32), a resident of Raipur village, filed a written complaint at Piplod police station stating that the Christian accused Navalsingh Barela, Dashrath Vishwakarma, and Ramesh Barela of the village had been propagating Christianity for the past few days and were also luring Hindus to convert to Christianity. It is stated that the accused also lured Vijay Kumar into adopting Christianity, promising him relief from illnesses, peace and tranquillity in his home, and a reward of two to two and a half lakh rupees for his children's education. The complainant, Vijay, also stated that the accused held prayer meetings every Saturday, praying for the healing of the sick and using this to convert Hindus to Christianity. On Saturday, 7 February 2026, a prayer meeting was organised at one of the perpetrators' houses. Vijay arrived there with the village sarpanch's husband, the deputy sarpanch's husband, and other villagers, and protested the conversion efforts. The three Christian perpetrators then brutally assaulted him, causing internal injuries to his back. Several villagers gathered at the scene and intervened. Before fleeing the spot, the perpetrators also threatened to kill the victim, Vijay, if their religious conversion meetings were opposed. Based on Vijay's complaint, the Piplod police registered a case against the accused and began investigating the entire matter.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case is being added to the Hinduphobia 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. Another primary category selected in this case is- Attack not resulting in death. The subcategory selected is- Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victims. In several cases, Hindus are attacked for opposing religiously motivated crimes being committed against a fellow Hindu or simply for voicing an opinion opposing radical elements, who either have in the past or continue to persecute Hindus. In such cases, the initial attack against the victim, against which the Hindu was trying to defend the victim, would also need to be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime. Since the initial crime itself was religiously motivated and the subsequent crime of attempting to save the victim or speaking against the radical elements ends up inviting a violent attack, it would also be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. This case has been added to the tracker because a Hindu man was offered inducements, including relief from illnesses, peace and tranquillity in his home, and two to two and a half lakh rupees for his children's education, in exchange for converting to Christianity. Offering such incentives, especially when directed at vulnerable individuals in need, showed that these incentives were not acts of kindness or charity. Instead, they were calculated moves to exploit vulnerable Hindus because of their religious identity. By providing inducements in exchange for conversion, the accused effectively blackmailed those who might have been desperate for assistance or hope. Such instances appear 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 acts are not random or isolated incidents, but rather cases deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims, making it a religiously motivated hate crime. The pretext of conversion under the guise of curing illnesses amounted to manipulation. Christian evangelists like Navalsingh Barela, Dashrath Vishwakarma, and Ramesh Barela exploited Vijay Kumar Rathore's vulnerability by falsely promising relief from his ailments through prayers, a common manipulative strategy in predatory proselytisation. This tactic preyed on desperate Hindus facing health crises, stripping them of their faith identity by portraying Hinduism as powerless against disease while imposing Christianity as the sole path to healing. Such deception was not mere persuasion but a calculated assault on Hindu religious beliefs, fostering doubt in traditional devotion and coercing victims into abandoning their religious heritage out of fear or false hope, clearly rooted in animosity towards Hindu faith practices. This conversion attempt targeted not just Vijay but several other Hindus and occurred every Saturday through organised prayer meetings in Raipur village. The accused held these regular gatherings specifically to pray for the sick and lure Hindu villagers, demonstrating a deliberate pattern of targeting the Hindu community to erode its religious demographics. By focusing on Hindus particularly, the evangelists aimed to systematically convert them en masse, altering the local religious composition through sustained campaigns. This repetitive, community-wide effort revealed deep-seated religious animosity, as it sought to diminish Hindu presence and dominance by aggressively promoting Christianity. Furthermore, when the victim, Vijay, opposed the conversions and predatory inducements, the perpetrators assaulted him brutally and subjected him to death threats. On 7 February 2026, after Vijay arrived with villagers to protest the prayer meeting at the accuseds' house, Navalsingh Barela, Dashrath Vishwakarma, and Ramesh Barela beat him, causing internal back injuries, and warned of killing him if such meetings were opposed again. This violent retaliation was a direct attack on resisting forced Christian conversions and protecting other Hindus from coerced, predatory proselytisation campaigns. The brutality escalated beyond persuasion to physical enforcement, punishing Vijay for defending his faith and safeguarding his community, underscoring the hate crime's roots in religious animosity, where opposition to forced conversion triggered aggression against Hindus, making it a religiously motivated crime. Such instances of targeted proselytisation activities stem from doctrinal animosity towards non-adherents inherent in Abrahamic faiths, rendering them inherently anti-Hindu in nature. Therefore, this case was added to the hate crime database of the tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incident dates based on when the victim's ordeal began, rather than when it was reported by the media. In this case, media reports did not specify the exact dates when victim Vijay Kumar Rathore's ordeal began, stating only that he was targeted for forced Christian conversion. Reports also noted that prayer meetings had been organised for many days past, without a precise start date. Therefore, the date of the recent prayer meeting on 7 February 2026, when Vijay was attacked after protesting, is selected as the indicative date of incidence for documentation purposes. Reports suggested that multiple Hindu victims were targeted for forced conversions, but the exact victim count was not specified. They only specified Vijay Kumar Rathore. Therefore, for documentation purposes, a conservative estimate of 1 victim is recorded in the victim count.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 1
- Unknown 0
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
