Several Hindu families brainwashed and forcibly converted to Christianity by pastors in Sambalpur, Orissa

Case ID : d32766c | Location : Sambalpur, Odisha, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 5 February, 2026

Case ID : d32766c

Sambalpur, Odisha, India

5 February, 2026

Several Hindu families brainwashed and forcibly converted to Christianity by pastors in Sambalpur, Orissa

Predatory Proselytisation

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Pattern of targeting Hindus

Victim says was brainwashed/groomed

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Attempting to convert/converting by denigrating Hinduism

Case Summary

In Sambalpur, Odisha, 147 members of 41 Hindu families were brainwashed and coercively converted to Christianity. The Christian pastors induced and manipulated the victims with false promises of curing illnesses upon conversion. This occurred in the Bamra block of Sambalpur. This incident came to light when 141 members from 47 families, who had previously been coerced into converting to Christianity under the influence of pastors, later returned to Sanatan Dharma (Hinduism) through a Gharwapsi programme, a Hindu religious event where Hindus who had previously converted to other faiths could revert to Hinduism. On 6 February 2026, the Dharma Prasar Vibhag of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) organised a Panchakundiya Dharmaraksha Yajna at the Vedmata Mahila Seva Ashram in Solbaga village. These Hindu families had converted years ago due to the influence of pastors and missionaries, but subsequently realised the deception and decided to return to Hinduism. One victim, Jayanti Jaipuria, shared her experience with the media. She stated that she and her family had been persuaded by false assurances. Her father had been suffering from a prolonged and incurable illness when a nun associated with missionary activities visited their home. The nun promised that his illness would be cured if the family converted to Christianity. They converted, but his health did not improve, and they later recognised the deception. Jayanti further explained that they had been compelled to participate in regular prayers, yet none of the promises were fulfilled. Another victim, Rahasya Manjari Patel, recounted her experience involving her nephew’s illness. She stated that Christian pastors approached her family during this period of emotional distress. They urged them to abandon "idol worship" and pray to Jesus Christ instead, assuring them that the child would recover. “At that time, our mental condition was such that we accepted what they said. However, despite everything, the child passed away. That was when I understood the reality behind their words,” she said, adding that she later decided to return to her original faith. Speakers at the Gharwapsi event raised concerns about illegal religious conversions and stressed the need for strict enforcement of existing laws in Odisha that regulate religious conversion. They emphasised that any conversion carried out through coercion, inducement, or misrepresentation should be prevented through effective enforcement mechanisms.

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, with the tertiary category being - 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 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. The other 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 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 was added to the tracker because Hindu villagers were targeted, offered inducements, and coerced into religious conversion by Christian pastors associated with missionary groups. Firstly, the villagers were targeted with false promises of miraculous cures and healing upon their conversion to Christianity. Victims explained how they had been deceived and made to believe that Christianity was a superior religion, and that once they converted, the illnesses of their family members would be cured. Such practices caused the victims to look down upon their own religion and cast doubt on their faith. These tactics were manipulative in nature and were used to exploit the trust of Hindus and manipulate them into abandoning their beliefs. Using such brainwashing tactics to strip Hindus of their religious identity amounted to a religiously motivated crime. Secondly, the missionaries brainwashed the victims, making them believe that worshipping Jesus Christ was far more beneficial. They persuaded the Hindu victims to abandon their own faith, insisting that idol worship offered no benefit, and convinced them that only by worshipping Christ could they receive healing. This amounted to both the manipulation of the victims and the denigration of their faith. Idols in Hinduism are mediums by which devotees worship the divine. To denigrate this tradition as idol worship and use this to manipulate Hindus into conversion showcases the religiously motivated nature of the crime. It also showcased the perpetrators' desire to assert Christian supremacy over Hinduism, making the hate-driven aspect of the crime even clearer. Thirdly, the pastors deliberately targeted poor, vulnerable, and helpless victims who were desperate for solutions. The healing promises from diseases served as an inducement to arm-twist them into converting to Christianity. Such inducements were given to exploit the victims' vulnerability and pressure them for conversion, making it a hate-driven act against Hindus and Hinduism. Pressuring a Hindu individual to discard his/her religious faith and embrace another is a direct attack on his or her religious identity and dignity. It is not a matter of personal choice. It is coercion rooted in hostility towards the victims' Hindu identity. Such attempts reflected religious animosity because the act was not simply about personal differences but about erasing the victims' Hindu faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. 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. This systematic attempt to erode the religious foundation of individuals and replace it with allegiance to another faith reflected deep religious malice and animus against the Hindu identity. Because the core motivation of the act stemmed from hostility toward the victim’s religion, it met the threshold of a hate crime. 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 pastors' 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. Given that this case met several parameters of a religiously motivated hate crime, it was added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: In this case, media reports stated that 147 Hindu residents, including men and women, were targeted, but no gender‑wise breakdown was provided. For documentation clarity, the Hinduphobia Tracker applied a proportional demographic estimate based on India’s Census 2011 and NFHS‑5 (2019–21) urban population data. Accordingly, the 147 participants were estimated as 76 men (52%) and 71 women (48%), reflecting the slightly higher male proportion consistent with typical urban demographics. The Hinduphobia Tracker records the date of an incident based on when the victim’s ordeal begins, rather than when it is reported in the media. In this case, the available details did not specify when the victims’ ordeal had started. Therefore, the date of the Gharwapsi event, 6 February 2026, was taken as an indicative date of the incident. This is recorded for documentation purposes only.