Case Summary

In Chena Ruria village of Nigohi area, Shahjahanpur district, several Hindus, including women, were lured under the guise of a prayer meeting and offered inducements for religious conversion by Christian missionaries. Hinduphobia Tracker obtained a copy of the FIR. A racket operating under the guise of a Sunday prayer meeting was exposed when Hindu Yuva Vahini activists reached the site after receiving information about ongoing proselytisation. At the residence of a local man named Hemraj, a prayer meeting was being conducted under the guise of a prayer meeting, where 20-25 Hindu men and women had gathered. It was reported that during these meetings, Christian religious messaging was promoted, and efforts were being made to induce victims to abandon Hinduism and convert to Christianity. When members of Hindu organisations confronted the missionaries about the conversion activities, they were violently attacked. The attackers, including both men and women, used sticks to assault them. One of the women said, “I am getting 2 to 3 lakh rupees. If you make a fuss, we will file false cases against your villagers under SC/ST act." The police promptly arrived at the location and arrested four individuals: Hemraj, Ompal, Launshree, and Ladli, for questioning. As of the date of writing this report, a case was registered by the police against the 4 accused, and the investigation was ongoing.

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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 proselytization, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. This case has been added to the tracker because Hindus, including women, were lured and offered inducements for religious conversion by Christian missionaries. The accused offered money to the victims in order to induce religious conversion, as one woman stated they she was getting 2-3 lakhs rupees. The use of money to encourage Christian conversion clearly demonstrates that these actions were not motivated by kindness or charity. Instead, they were calculated attempts to exploit vulnerable Hindus due to their religion. By providing inducements to Hindus to change their faith, the Christian perpetrators were effectively emotionally blackmailing those vulnerable Hindus who might have been desperate for assistance. Such instances are seen in many cases where members of Christian missionary groups target and brainwash socially and economically vulnerable Hindus to further their agenda of religious conversions. This form of coercion strips Hindus of their agency and dignity and enforces forced conversions. These are not random or isolated incidents, but rather are 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. 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 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. Therefore, both the conversion attempt and the ensuing assault emerge from a systematic bias against Hinduism and Hindus. These actions cannot be understood as isolated criminality; rather, they fit within a broader pattern of religiously motivated hostility, exploitation, and violence. As such, the incident is appropriately classified as a hate crime under both categories outlined above.