Dalit Hindu man pressured by missionaries to remove hindu idols and convert through threats and inducements
Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh, India 
14 June, 2025
Case Summary
In the Civil Lines police station area of Chhatarpur, a Dalit Hindu was pressured to convert to Christianity. He was being forced to remove pictures of Hindu deities from his home and replace them with a Bible and images of Jesus Christ, and was also being compelled to attend church. He was lured with cash and the promise of a job. Bhiyan Santal, son of Bakhta Sambal and a resident of Ward No. 21, submitted a complaint at the Superintendent of Police’s office. He said that Premwati Manjhi David, her daughter Neelam Manjhi David, Sanjay David, and his wife were repeatedly pressuring him to convert. According to the complaint, on the morning of 15 June at around 10 a.m., the Christian individuals came to his home and told him to remove images of Hindu deities and replace them with a Bible and a picture of Jesus Christ. They warned him that misfortune would occur if he did not attend church, citing the displeasure of Jesus. The complainant reported that he was lured with the promise of a job, offered ₹3,000, and given a Bible. He also reported that other poor families in the neighbourhood are also being pressured to convert using incentives such as medical assistance and various facilities. Suraj Bundela, the district convenor of Bajrang Dal, said that for the past six months, individuals from Bhopal have been attempting to carry out religious conversions in Chhatarpur. He added that similar incidents have been reported near Bamitha and the old prison area. He warned that if the administration fails to act, the organisation will initiate action at its level. Valmiki Chaubey, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Civil Lines, stated that he has not yet received information regarding the matter. He assured that if a complaint is lodged, an investigation will be carried out and appropriate action taken.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Predatory proselytisation. Within it, the first sub-category 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 - 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 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. The other sub-category selected is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. Within it, the tertiary sub-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. In this case, the victim, a Dalit Hindu man, was offered ₹3,000, a promise of employment, and given a Bible to persuade him to abandon his religion and convert to Christianity. This fits squarely under inducement-based proselytisation, where the religious identity of the victim is exploited through economic vulnerabilities. The use of material incentives to encourage conversion targets not only the socio-economic status of the individual but also aims to sever their connection with the Hindu faith. Such cases, where inducement is used to exploit poverty for religious conversion, are considered religiously motivated hate crimes because the religious identity of the Hindu victim is the core motivation and target of the act. The victim was told to remove images of Hindu deities from his home and replace them with Christian symbols, with a warning that failure to attend church would bring misfortune due to Jesus's displeasure. This constitutes psychological coercion and religious intimidation. Threatening a Hindu with divine retribution from another faith in order to compel them to convert is a clear form of religious harassment. It infringes upon the individual’s right to freely practise their own religion and uses fear rooted in religious pressure. The demand to remove pictures of Hindu deities from the home constitutes a clear act of denigrating Hinduism. Such actions imply that Hindu gods are inferior or unacceptable and must be replaced. The implication that worshipping Hindu deities would invite divine wrath reinforces a pattern of denigration. These attempts to belittle or insult Hindu beliefs to facilitate conversion are driven by contempt for the Hindu faith and constitute religiously motivated hate crimes. The pattern of inducement, psychological manipulation, and targeting of poor Hindu families in the same neighbourhood suggests a broader, organised effort at conversion. The case is not an isolated event; rather, it points to a coordinated attempt at subtle indoctrination, relying on repeated messaging, economic promises, and spiritual threats to manipulate individuals into abandoning their faith. Reports of similar incidents in nearby areas further support the view that there is a sustained and targeted campaign against Hindus. The repeated targeting of Dalit and economically marginalised Hindus highlights a pattern of religious exploitation and predatory conversion. This method of proselytisation, aimed specifically at Hindus, reveals a deep-rooted religious animosity and thus constitutes a hate crime. Hence, this case represents a calculated and multifaceted form of religious targeting where inducement, coercion, denigration of the Hindu faith, and systematic manipulation were all employed to pressure Dalit Hindu into abandoning their religion. Hence, this case is reported in the hate crime database.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 1
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 0
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
