Hindu couple offered inducements and pressured for conversion by Christian evangelists; assaulted on refusal to convert
Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India 
22 September, 2024
Case Summary
In the Ajabpur Kalan area of Dehradun, Uttarakhand, a Hindu man named Rajendra Singh and his wife were offered inducements, physically assaulted and pressured for religious conversion by a group of Christian evangelists. The victim, Rajendra Singh, who was physically handicapped and financially weak, stated that a woman named Sudesh and her son Gagan had been carrying out forced conversion activities in the locality since 2024. They also invited people from outside and held prayer meetings at their house so as to convert Hindus to Christianity. The victim stated that, since the last few months, he and his wife had also been pressured for religious conversion. Evangelists attempted to lure him and his wife towards conversion by offering him free medicine, a house, and money. On the morning of 25th September 2025, around 4 a.m., Sudesh, Gagan, Pastor Vijay, and a girl named Khushi came to his house and attempted to forcibly convert him. When he resisted, the group physically assaulted him and his wife. The victim immediately called the police, prompting Pastor Vijay to flee the scene, leaving his motorbike behind. The police promptly arrived at the spot and seized the bike. As of the date of writing this report, an FIR was registered by the police, and the investigation was ongoing.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Predatory proselytisation. Under this, the sub-category selected 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 other sub-category selected here 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 here is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, with the tertiary category being - 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. The second primary category selected here is - Attack not resulting in death. Within it, the sub-category selected is - Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim. 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 and his wife were offered inducements, physically assaulted and pressured for religious conversion by a group of Christian evangelists. Offering inducements such as free medicine, promises of a house, and financial assistance, especially when directed at a physically handicapped and economically vulnerable individual, shows that these incentives were not acts of kindness or charity. Instead, they were calculated moves to exploit vulnerable Hindus because of their religion. By providing inducements or promising healing in exchange for conversion, evangelists weaponised the victim’s vulnerabilities, effectively coercing him into abandoning his faith. Such instances are seen 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 Hindus of their agency and dignity and results in coerced conversions. These are not random or isolated incidents but rather cases deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims. When the inducements failed, the accused directly sought to pressure and force the Hindu victim to renounce his religion and adopt Christianity. Pressuring a Hindu to discard his religious faith is not merely an infringement on choice but a direct assault on his religious identity and dignity. The act reflected hostility towards the victim’s Hindu faith, marking the incident as a religiously motivated hate crime rather than a personal conflict. When the victim and his wife resisted conversion, they were subjected to physical assault by evangelists. This was not a spontaneous response but a violent retaliation in an effort to convert them and assert Christian dominance. It was also meant to instil fear among other Hindus who might resist such conversion efforts. The aggression stemmed from religious animosity and was directly tied to the victims’ refusal to give up their faith. Furthermore, the act of luring Hindus under the pretence of prayer meetings demonstrated that these events were not genuine occasions for prayer but carefully staged opportunities to lure Hindus into conversion. By disguising proselytisation efforts as prayer meetings, the perpetrators sought to infiltrate and exploit the trust within the local Hindu community. As a result, vulnerable Hindus were manipulated into abandoning their faith. These malicious actions were rooted in religious animosity towards Hinduism and its community. The nature of the conversion efforts and the wider impact on the Hindu community all indicate 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, which demonstrates a lack of respect for Hinduism and its followers. Such actions were carried out to strip Hindu victims of their 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. These are not random or isolated incidents but rather premeditated efforts to undermine the Hindu faith, persuade Hindus to discard their own faith, and convert to Christianity. Such acts are deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims, and thus, this case is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: The victim mentioned that the conversion activities were on in the area for the last year. Thus, to document this case, we have used an indicative date—September 23, 2024—as a placeholder to represent the beginning of the conversion activities. While media coverage of the incident emerged on September 25, 2025, the Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began, not when it was reported by the media.
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 2
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
