Hindu man offered money to convert; Christian missionaries target poor Hindu under the guise of prayer meeting

Case ID : e274a44 | Location : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 28 June, 2025

Case ID : e274a44

Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India

28 June, 2025

Hindu man offered money to convert; Christian missionaries target poor Hindu under the guise of prayer meeting

Predatory Proselytisation

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Pattern of targeting Hindus

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Case Summary

In the Kewatpara area of Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, a Hindu man named Prakash Singh was coerced into religious conversion through inducements by Christian missionaries. Along with the victim, multiple Hindu families, primarily belonging to economically weaker sections, were targeted for conversion. According to the reports, the Christian pastor named Vijay Singh was conducting a prayer meeting, which was attended by a large number of people. When members of the Hindu organisation reached the premises, they found that illegal conversion activities were going on under the guise of a prayer meeting. Hindu organisation stated that Hindus, primarily belonging to the economically weaker sections, were being brainwashed and lured into conversion under the pretext of spiritual gatherings. Prakash Singh submitted a written complaint at the police station stating that members of the Christian community tried to forcibly convert him by offering him money and taking him to a prayer hall. The police arrived on the scene and de-escalated the situation. Members of the Hindu organisation disrupted the prayer meeting and began protesting, raising slogans against the illegal conversion activities. In response, Christian missionaries, including the pastor, confronted them and attacked, resulting in escalating tensions between the two groups. Christian missionaries accused the Hindu activists of storming into the premises and creating a ruckus, including stone-pelting and issuing threats. Some even accused the Hindu activists of molestation and objected to slogans like "shoot them," claiming they hurt the sentiments of their community. Meanwhile, the members of the Hindu organisation stated that innocent and poor Hindus were being converted through deceit under the guise of prayer meetings. The Hindu activists demanded strict legal action against those conducting these conversion activities. As of the date of writing this report, a case was registered by the police against Pastor Vinay Singh Parihar, Malti Dheewar, Pawan Shriwas, Harsh Rajak, Badal, Madhu Dheewar and Pulu, under the Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Act. The investigation was ongoing.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of: - Predatory Proselytisation. Within it, the 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 second 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 proselytisation, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. This case has been added to the tracker because a Hindu man, Prakash Singh, was enticed for religious conversion by Christian missionaries. Offering incentives to encourage conversion, particularly when directed at individuals who are vulnerable or in need, shows that these incentives are not acts of kindness or charity. Instead, they are calculated moves to exploit vulnerable Hindus because of their religion. By providing inducements to Hindus to change their faith, the accused were effectively blackmailing those who might have been desperate for assistance. 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 people of their agency and dignity and enforces forced conversions. These are not random or isolated incidents, but rather cases deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims. Furthermore, as stated by the Hindu organisation, illegal conversion activities targeting poor and economically vulnerable Hindus were being carried out under the guise of a prayer meeting. The use of a prayer meeting is often used as a front for religious conversion activities, where, many times, indirect and manipulative methods are used to lure or convince individuals into conversion, especially when the targets are economically vulnerable people. In such cases, conversion isn’t driven by genuine spiritual awakening but by exploiting the emotional, social, and material needs of the vulnerable. Prayer meetings often serve as a setup where people are gradually conditioned, emotionally manipulated, and made to feel disillusioned with their own faith, while being subtly indoctrinated to accept Christianity. 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 deception to inducements such as money or jobs. These tactics are designed not as acts of charity but as tools to engineer religious change under the guise of social upliftment, particularly among vulnerable and underprivileged communities. Additionally, members of the Hindu organisation were attacked by the missionaries, which further proves the deceptive and downright violent methods that missionaries are willing to employ just to induce conversion. Since such predatory actions stem from doctrinal animosity towards the Hindu faith and its adherents, this case is being documented as a religiously motivated hate crime. Disclaimer: The details of this case reveal that many Hindus were harassed and forced to convert by the accused. However, since it is explicitly mentioned that one Hindu man confirmed the allegation of conversion and filed a complaint in this regard, we have conservatively recorded the victim count as 1 in the database for accuracy and consistency.