Hindu tribal families converted through false promises of miraculous healing by Christian evangelists

Case ID : ea34a72 | Location : Kondagaon, Chhattisgarh, India | Date of Incident : Mon, 5 May, 2025

Case ID : ea34a72

Kondagaon, Chhattisgarh, India

5 May, 2025

Hindu tribal families converted through false promises of miraculous healing by Christian evangelists

Predatory Proselytisation

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Victim says was brainwashed/groomed

Case Summary

In Pitichua village of Kondagaon district, Chhattisgarh, ten Hindu tribal families had been lured, emotionally manipulated, and ultimately converted by Christian missionaries under the false pretence of miraculous healing. According to their testimonies, they were lured into conversion with false promises of healing, particularly targeting vulnerable family members suffering from serious illnesses. Gaindlal Markam, one of the victims, shared that his young son had a respiratory illness and after failing to find relief through conventional medicine, the family was referred to Christian missionaries. The missionaries prayed over them, gave them "holy water," and claimed that the child would be cured. Initially, the child showed some improvement, but the illness returned, leading the family to realise they had been misled. Similar experiences were echoed by other families who were given the Bible and asked to abandon their traditional practices in favour of Christian customs. Leaders of the tribal society have strongly condemned these conversions, accusing missionaries of exploiting the ignorance and desperation of impoverished tribal populations. They criticised the use of religious propaganda under the guise of healing and support, asserting that the missionaries preyed on the community’s hardships to push conversion agendas. Many of the families reported that once they realised the falsehood of the claims and the social costs of abandoning their traditions, they chose to return to Hinduism.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of: - Predatory proselytisaion. 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 other sub-category relevant here is: - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, with the tertiary category being: - Victim says was brainwashed/groomed. 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 constitutes a religiously motivated hate crime wherein Hindu Adivasi families were deliberately targeted with the intent of gradually alienating them from their native Sanatan Dharma and subtly fostering acceptance of Christianity. Vulnerable tribal Hindus were approached and manipulated under the pretext of miraculous healing, a strategy that preyed on their social, financial, and emotional vulnerabilities. The victims were not provided legitimate medical assistance but were instead handed “holy water” and were asked to pray with the assurance of divine healing. When temporary improvements appeared, the families were lured further into abandoning their faith and adopting Christianity. The underlying intent was not mere charity or spiritual support but religious conversion through calculated emotional deception. This form of inducement, while not overtly violent, was insidious and exploitative, targeting the very foundations of the victims’ belief systems. The strategy used was not just to promise physical healing but to make the victims internalise the perceived spiritual superiority of Christianity over their faith. By exploiting their desperation and disillusionment, missionaries effectively introduced disaffection toward Sanatan Dharma while building emotional dependency on Christian symbols and figures. This process falls squarely under the categories of both "conversion by inducement" and "brainwashing/grooming" as defined under predatory proselytisation. The situation reflects a broader pattern observed in tribal regions where poverty, illiteracy, and lack of access to institutional healthcare are weaponised by Christian evangelists to convert people into Christianity. The targeting of Hindu tribal communities under false pretences, with the deliberate intent to alter their religious identity, renders this case a clear instance of a religiously motivated hate crime. Disclaimer: In this case, it is mentioned that members of 10 families were converted to Christianity. However, the exact number of individuals involved in the conversion is not specified. Due to this lack of clarity, we have relied on the most recent Indian census data, which indicates that the average family size in India is approximately 4.8 members per household. To ensure a standardised estimation, we have opted to consider an average of 5 members per family. Based on this approach, the estimated total number of victims in this case is calculated as 50 individuals.