Ailing Hindus targeted and coerced into conversion through promises of financial aid and miraculous healing
Janjgir, Chhattisgarh, India 
11 April, 2025
Case Summary
A conversion racket was uncovered in Janjgir, Chhattisgarh, where four individuals, including two women, were arrested by the police for involvement in unlawful religious conversions. Over an extended period, they had been drawing in unsuspecting villagers by promising to cure illnesses through misleading means. As a result, several residents from nearby areas were influenced to change their faith. The police seized mobile phones, a television, a sound system, and promotional materials from their possession. The police were tipped off that certain persons were conducting religious conversions at the Modi Complex on BDM Hospital Road. It was reported that individuals on the third floor were persuading locals by claiming to provide healing, thereby inducing them to convert. Senior officers ordered an action upon receiving this information, and a team under the leadership of the Station House Officer was sent to the location. The accused were apprehended at the scene. During questioning, they admitted to inducing conversions by offering financial incentives and false promises of curing ailments. Following this, they were arrested under Sections 3 and 299 of the BNS. The arrested individuals were identified as Jackson Binny Bilfred (40) and Hetal Vinubhai Mekwan (40), both from near Ahmad Raza Masjid, Indore, Madhya Pradesh; Yogesh Sahu (20) from Telibandha, Raipur; and Anusuya Anant (37) from Chandupura, Champa.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category- Predatory Proselytisation. The sub-category relevant in this case 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. This case constitutes a hate crime because the perpetrators deliberately targeted individuals suffering from illness, exploiting their vulnerability to induce religious conversion. The promise of miraculous healing was not made in a secular or medical context but was instead tied to the abandonment of the victims’ Hindu faith. Those afflicted with ailments, often desperate for relief, were misled into believing that a change in religion would bring about a cure—thus turning their suffering into a tool for religious manipulation. This exploitation of illness, particularly among economically weaker individuals, reflects a calculated attempt to dismantle their spiritual identity under the guise of compassion. The religious identity of the victims lies at the core of this offence. The act of approaching the sick with promises of healing, contingent on their conversion, is neither neutral nor benevolent—it is a targeted effort to separate them from their faith at a moment of profound weakness. Such conduct is not merely exploitative but is religiously motivated, using the physical suffering of Hindu individuals to achieve proselytising ends. Therefore, it squarely falls within the category of a hate crime, as the intent and impact are rooted in altering the religious identity of a particular group through deceit and exploitation of illness.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
