Case Summary

In the Bari Rahjaniya village of Mau district, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu man named Aakash Kumar was lured, offered money, and enticed for religious conversion by two Christian missionaries. According to the complaint filed by the victim, in around June 2025, two Christian missionaries named Shyam Kumar Rajbhar and Ravi Shankar began pressuring him for religious conversion. They attempted to brainwash him, pressured him, and offered money in order to induce conversion. When the victim refused, he was asked to attend a prayer meeting near Salahabad Jail Marg, Hydel. When he reached there, he found that approximately 60 to 70 Hindus, including women and children, had assembled, and attempts were being made to brainwash them into abandoning their faith through prayers and promises of material gain. Police were immediately alerted about the illegal conversion and promptly raided the premises. During the raid, Shyam Kumar Rajbhar and Ravi Shankar were apprehended, while some others managed to escape. Religious texts related to Christianity were also recovered from the scene. As of the date of writing this report, a case was registered against the two under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act 2021. Police reiterated that no activity of unlawful religious conversion would be tolerated in the district, and strict action would be taken against those involved.

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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 - Victim says was brainwashed/groomed, Pattern of targeting Hindus and Conversion of minor. 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 that the Hindu man, and others present in the prayer meeting, were brainwashed and pressured for religious conversion by Christian missionaries. Offering incentives or money for religious conversion, especially when directed at vulnerable individuals 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 or promising healing in exchange for conversion, the accused were effectively blackmailing those who might have been desperate for assistance or hope. During the prayer meeting, in addition to offering money, the Christian perpetrators were actively attempting to brainwash the Hindu victims by using Christian religious texts. Using the scriptures of one faith to deliberately target and manipulate members of another, with the clear intention of religious conversion, represents a direct attack on the Hindu faith. Such actions are designed to exploit and undermine the beliefs of Hindu victims and are clear indicators of religious hostility towards Hindus and their religious identity. Such instances also demonstrate that this was not an isolated incident of evangelism, but rather part of a broader, organised operation to further religious conversions. When religious material is used to exploit trust, sow doubt, and misrepresent beliefs to coerce conversion, particularly in a systematic manner, it constitutes a religiously motivated offence. Furthermore, it was reported that many of the victims present in the prayer meeting were children. Therefore, some of the victims were minors, which means the element of consent and genuine change of conscience was missing ab initio. Minors, due to their young age and lack of maturity, are particularly vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. They may not have the ability to fully understand the implications of converting to another religion, and the Christian perpetrators often purposely target and exploit this vulnerability of the minors. 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. In such cases, Christian missionary groups often 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 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 was added to the tracker. Disclaimer - The victim in the FIR states that the accused targeted him for conversion about two months ago, in June 2025, though no exact date or month was provided. Thus, to document this case, we have used an indicative date—June 19, 2025—as a placeholder to represent the beginning of his ordeal. While media coverage of the incident emerged on August 19, 2025, the Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began.