Christian Pastor and his wife offer money to people of marginalised communities to convert to Christianity, received foreign funding
Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India 
29 July, 2023
Case Summary
In the Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh, the Special Task Force (STF) took over the investigation into a case involving a couple arrested for converting members of marginalised communities in Ghaziabad by offering them money. The accused, Pastor Mahinder Kumar and his wife Seema, residents of Peernagar Sudana, were arrested after an FIR was filed based on complaints of pressing and offering money to needy people in the Modinagar area for conversion to Christianity. The couple operated a charitable trust called Bethlehem Gospel and allegedly received funds from overseas for converting members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes communities. They had ten bank accounts in foreign banks, with transactions worth thousands of rupees discovered during the inquiry. Pastor Mahinder Kumar received Rs 30 lakh from foreign sources. Police have also identified two individuals from Mumbai and Chennai involved in the conversion ring. More than a hundred people baptised by the couple are in contact with them. A six-member UP STF team visited the Modinagar police station to gather details about the case and inquire about police actions. Additionally, a complaint was lodged against a mother-son duo in Shahjahanpur for trying to convert others to Christianity, but their involvement could not be established during the investigation.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
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. In this case, the Christian evangelists were attempting to exploit a specific vulnerability of the victims who were in all likelihood also economically backward. The missionaries exploited the poor victims by promising them money, which is not just material possessions for them but a matter of survival. Since exploiting vulnerabilities for the explicit purpose of conversion is purely based on animosity towards the victim's faith, this case has been categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime. Disclaimer: The details of this case reveal that more than 100 people were baptised by the accused, however, since it does not mention the exact number of victims, we have conservatively added 100 as the victim count in the database.
Victim Details
Total Victim
100
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 100
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 100
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 100
Case Status
Case sub-judice
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
