Hindu man harassed for forced conversion by Christian wife, in-laws and pastor in Rajasthan; pressured to remove idols from home, minor daughter converted
Hanumangarh, Rajasthan, India 
5 September, 2025
Case Summary
In the Hanumangarh district, Rajasthan, a Hindu man named Ajay and his minor daughter were harassed, coerced and offered inducements for Christian conversion by his wife, in-laws and a Christian pastor. He was even pressured to remove idols of Hindu deities from his house. According to the complaint filed by the victim, a resident of Ward 6 of Rawatsar, ever since his marriage to a Christian woman named Ritu Rani, daughter of Pal Singh, he was being pressured to abandon Hinduism and convert to Christianity. They also had a 10-month-old daughter. On September 6, 2025, when Ajay visited his in-laws’ house, his wife Ritu Rani, mother-in-law Santosh, and sister-in-law Rajni told him that they would only maintain a relationship with him if he converted, otherwise they would sever ties with him. He further stated that his in-laws initially handed the 10-month-old child over to him, but the very next day, they demanded her back. They insisted that he would be permitted to live with his wife and daughter only if he removed idols of Hindu deities from his home and accepted Christianity. During this confrontation, Pastor Malkit Singh also arrived and stated that he had already converted several households in the Dabli and Pilibanga area. He assured Ajay that if he converted, his God would bless him with wealth. Ajay refused, affirming his Hindu faith, and stated that converting would destroy his life. The pastor then gave him a ten-day ultimatum to convert, warning that he would never be allowed to return to his home. When Ajay later went back to his in-laws’ home, he was informed that his minor daughter had been converted to Christianity and that he would only be accepted if he too converted. Furthermore, he was subjected to continuous mental harassment and was under severe pressure to convert to Christianity. Subsequently, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal activists, Hindu organisations, staged a protest at the Pilibanga police station, highlighting the rise of conversion activities in the region. The victim filed an FIR and demanded legal action against the accused. The police have initiated an investigation into the incident and confirmed that further action would be taken after the investigation.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women. Within it, the sub-category selected is - Forced conversion after marriage. In such cases, a non-Hindu woman marries a Hindu man and the force/pressure against the Hindu man to convert to Islam begins after marriage. In such cases, the marriage is consensual in most cases and often, there is no element of the non-Hindu woman hiding her religious identity. The marriage could be under the Special Marriages Act where neither parties are required to convert their religion for the marriage to be considered legitimate. While the victim in such cases enters matrimony assuming that religious identity is not a barrier, the non-Hindu woman starts to pressure the Hindu man to convert to Islam after marriage. In such cases, there is application of force/pressure by the perpetrator, including, denial of the man’s religious rights. Some of the means by which the man is forced/pressured to convert include forcing/pressurizing the man to involuntarily consume beef, pressurizing/forcing to read the Kalma, forced circumcision, forced to go to the mosque, etc. There are several instances where after marriage, the man voluntarily converts to Islam. Such cases are often argued to be a result of religious brainwashing, however, for the purpose of documenting religiously motivated hate crimes, in the absence of the victim complaining of forced conversion, such cases do not form a part of the database. The second sub-category selected here is - Blackmailed to convert. When Hindu men are in a relationship with non-Hindu women, there are cases where the man is blackmailed to convert his religion. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu man known to the victim, however, there could be cases where the relationship is not consensual and the non-Hindu woman starts blackmailing a Hindu man to convert his religion. In these cases, it is often seen that the Hindu man is blackmailed with intimate photos and/or videos, threats of harm to his family, threats of violence etc. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. The second primary category selected here is - Predatory Proselytisation. Within it, the 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 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. The other sub-category selected here 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 here is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, with the tertiary category being - 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 added to the tracker because a Hindu man was subjected to forced conversion by his Christian wife, her in-laws and a Christian pastor. The victim was threatened, blackmailed, and mentally harassed, all as an attempt to pressure him into abandoning his faith. By pushing him towards conversion, the perpetrators aimed to forcefully erase the victim's religious identity, which is a form of religious persecution, stemming from the deep disdain that the perpetrators held for the victim's faith, Hinduism. Since the central motivation here was religion, this case has been added as a hate crime to the database. They emotionally manipulated and blackmailed the victim to convert him to Christianity. The wife and her family members denied access to the daughter to her husband. The minor daughter was essentially used as a tool of blackmail and manipulation to force the victim into conversion. When the victim attempted to meet them, he was refused, stating that he would only be allowed to meet if he converted. Even his whole marital relationship was held hostage to conversion. Such actions were about delivering a message that the only path available to the victim was religious conversion, if he wanted familial peace and access to his children. These were calculated moves rooted in religious animosity meant to systematically erase the Hindu identity of the victim. The victim was also pressured to remove idols of Hindu deities from his home, which further underscores the targeted nature of the crime. In Hinduism, deities are revered as sacred manifestations of divinity, and compelling a devotee to discard them amounts to direct desecration of faith. Forcing someone to erase the visible symbols of their religion is not merely a private dispute but a form of religiously motivated hate crime, as it demonstrates animosity toward the Hindu faith itself. This act symbolises an attempt to delegitimise Hindu worship practices and to impose the superiority of another faith by demanding the abandonment of sacred symbols. In doing so, the perpetrators were not only coercing the victim but also attacking the very essence of his religious freedom and dignity, making this a clear instance of targeted religious persecution. It is also crucial to emphasise that the victim's minor daughter was converted without consent from the victim. Any notion of consent or genuine change of conscience was absent from the outset. Minors, due to their age and lack of maturity, are especially vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. They may not fully understand the implications of converting to another religion. In this case, the Christian perpetrators exploited this vulnerability of the Hindu children to further religious conversion, highlighting the religious motivation behind the crime. Furthermore, the role of the Christian pastor was central to the harassment. He subjected the victim to intense pressure, isolating him from his family in an effort to break his resolve. The pastor gave him a ten-day ultimatum, warning that he would never be allowed to return to his home unless he converted. He continuously harassed the victim with inducements, tempting him with promises of wealth while simultaneously insulting his Hindu faith. As a result, the victim faced severe psychological trauma and was left socially and emotionally isolated when his wife and in-laws severed ties with him. This deliberate use of manipulation, inducements, and emotional isolation amounted to targeted harassment intended to break down his resistance and force him into conversion. Offering incentives or inducements, especially when directed at vulnerable individuals, shows that these incentives were not acts of kindness or charity. Instead, they were calculated moves to exploit vulnerable Hindus because of their religion. By providing inducements or promising wealth or other benefits in exchange for conversion, the pastor was effectively pressuring the victim, who might have been desperate for assistance or hope. Such tactics strip people of their agency and dignity and result in coerced conversions. These are not random or isolated incidents, but cases deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims. The perpetrators' actions went far beyond family disputes or marital discord. This was a targeted attempt to erase the religious identity of a Hindu man by leveraging fear and emotional control. Such actions of the victim's wife and in-laws stem from inherent hostility towards the victim's professed faith, since Abrahamic faiths often dehumanise non-adherents until they convert. Thus, the victim was subjected to exploitative means such as emotional blackmail and psychological manipulation; 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: It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case have specified the exact date when the victim's ordeal began. The earliest date mentioned is September 6, 2025, when she was threatened and sexually molested by the perpetrators. Since Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began and not when it was reported, we have considered the date of the incident as September 6, 2025, though the media reported the incident on September 22, 2025.
Victim Details
Total Victim
2
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 2
Age Group
- Minor 1
- 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 
