Hindu family pressured to convert through inducements and denigration of Hinduism by Christian pastor in Ajmer

Case ID : e275361 | Location : Ajmer, Rajasthan, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 6 September, 2025

Case ID : e275361

Ajmer, Rajasthan, India

6 September, 2025

Hindu family pressured to convert through inducements and denigration of Hinduism by Christian pastor in Ajmer

Predatory Proselytisation

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Attempting to convert/converting by denigrating Hinduism

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Pattern of targeting Hindus

Case Summary

In Ajmer, Rajasthan, a 47-year-old Hindu man and his brother's family were lured for conversion by a Christian pastor named Sunil. Sunil offered inducements and denigrated Hinduism to brainwash the victims. According to the victim, he came into contact with the accused after his niece fell ill, and someone recommended that he and his brother take her to Pastor Sunil for treatment. The pastor claimed that the illness was due to a curse by Jesus Christ and that he would pray for her. He also gave the victim's niece something to drink, after which her health improved. Following this, he began pressuring both brothers and their families to convert, claiming that their 33 crore Hindu gods were of no use and that they should worship only Jesus Christ. He continued to make derogatory remarks about Hinduism and Hindu deities. When both brothers refused conversion, the accused gradually gave assurance to the victim's brother that he would arrange his daughter’s marriage and a job for his wife. Eventually, the pastor converted the victim's brother's whole family, resulting in their complete estrangement from the victim. The accused even changed the victim's nephew’s name, arranged his marriage to a Christian girl, and got him a job as a pastor in Himachal Pradesh. Pastor Sunil also continued pressuring the victim to convert to Christianity. He tempted the victim by claiming that he would become rich if he converted. The victim stated that Pastor Sunil had targeted hundreds of people in a similar way over the past year, often approaching patients in government hospitals and convincing them to convert by offering treatment. As of the date of writing this report, based on the victim's complaint, the police had registered a case against the accused. The investigation was ongoing.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of: Predatory Proselytisation. The subcategory under this 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 - 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. 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 third sub-category selected here 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 fourth sub-category selected here is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, with the tertiary categories 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 a Hindu man and his brother's family in Ajmer were lured for conversion by Pastor Sunil, who used inducements, false promises, and derogatory remarks against Hinduism to target them. The pastor pressured the victim and his brother’s family to abandon their faith, offering incentives such as a job and marriage arrangements. Offering incentives or making false promises, especially when directed at vulnerable individuals in need, demonstrates that these were not acts of compassion but calculated strategies to exploit Hindus on the basis of their religion. By combining inducements with purported “healing” when the victim’s niece was ill, the pastor created dependency and attempted to equate conversion with the family's well-being. 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 results in coerced conversions. This systematic attempt to erode the religious foundation of individuals and replace it with allegiance to another faith reflects deep religious malice and animus against the Hindu identity. Furthermore, the perpetrator not only lured people with promises but also openly insulted and denigrated Hinduism and Hindu gods. The accused claimed that the thirty-three crore deities were of no use and ridiculed Hinduism. This was not mere proselytisation but an act of direct incitement, designed to demean and belittle the Hindu faith while fostering a sense of inferiority in the minds of victims against their own faith. It constitutes an act of incitement and insult directed at the core beliefs of the Hindu community. This fosters an environment of hostility and disrespect towards the Hindu community and Hindu deities. These acts of insulting Hinduism stem from Christian theology, which harbours disdain and hatred for polytheistic faiths, and which categorises Hindus as ‘polytheists’, thereby fostering hatred against them. Such actions make the religiously motivated nature of the crime even more evident. The victim also faced harassment and psychological trauma as a direct result of the pastor’s actions. When his brother’s family converted, they severed all ties with him, leaving him socially and emotionally isolated. He was mentally harassed through repeated pressure by the accused, who continuously tempted him with the promise of wealth and insulted his faith, to push the victim towards conversion. This deliberate use of inducements, manipulation, and isolation amounted to harassment intended to break down his resistance and force him towards conversion. The victim stated that the accused had been involved in illegal conversion activities for the past year and had targeted several Hindus in a similar way, frequently approaching patients in government hospitals, exploiting their illnesses, and persuading them to convert under the guise of healing. The systematic and persistent targeting of socially and economically vulnerable Hindus showed that these conversions were neither accidental nor voluntary but the result of sustained psychological manipulation and coercion. Such incidents highlighted that the conversions were neither isolated nor accidental but formed part of a calculated and targeted strategy to convert Hindus to Christianity. By focusing specifically on Hindus, these Christian evangelists were profiling vulnerable individuals and working systematically to erase their Hindu identity. The repeated nature of these actions revealed a deliberate intent to disrupt the cultural fabric and faith of the community, leaving the victims exposed to ongoing pressure and exploitation. 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 denigration of Hinduism 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. 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 were deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims, and thus, this case was added to the tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when the victim’s ordeal began. However, in this case, the report does not provide specific details regarding when the accused targeted the victim. Therefore, for documentation purposes, the date of the incident has been recorded as the date it was reported in the media - September 7, 2025.