Hindus induced to convert to Christianity under the guise of 'prayer meeting'
Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, India 
3 May, 2025
Case Summary
In Itauria village, Uttar Pradesh, Hindus were lured to convert to Christianity under the guise of 'Sunday prayers' by two individuals named Rakesh Godson and his son David Godson. According to news reports, Rakesh and David were residents of Gorakhpur. They had rented a house owned by a man named Girbhar. At this location, they regularly conducted Sunday prayers and converted local Hindus to Christianity. Locals reported that a significant number of local Hindus would gather at the house for Sunday prayers. Concerned residents initially raised objections with the landlord, Girbhar, but their complaints were ignored. On the day of the incident, a large gathering had once again assembled at Rakesh's house. Local Hindus, alarmed by the ongoing conversion activities, alerted members of the Hindu Jagran Manch and Hindu Yuva Vahini. District Vice President of the Hindu Jagran Manch, Yashwant Singh, along with Amit Chaturvedi, Keshav Vaishya, Puneet Jaiswal, and Shubham Saxena, arrived at the scene. They found David and Rakesh inside the house with a Bible, leading the attendees in Christian prayers. The activists confronted the accused and informed the Sungarhi police. Upon arrival, the police detained both individuals. Initially, the police dismissed the angle of religious conversion, which led to a verbal dispute between the activists and law enforcement. Subsequently, a formal case was registered against David and Rakesh. The matter was taken to court, where both accused were remanded to judicial custody.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been included in the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation, and the subcategory- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, and within it, the tertiary category selected is- 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 constitutes a religiously motivated hate crime as Hindu villagers were systematically targeted with the aim of inducing disaffection towards their own religion and subtly encouraging acceptance of Christianity. The use of a prayer gathering as a cover suggests that the individual involved may have been using indirect methods to lure or convince individuals into conversion, possibly targeting vulnerable individuals by exploiting their emotional, social, or religious needs. Moreover, the report states that Christian evangelists had been conducting covert conversion efforts for the past two months, and over 200 people were attending these gatherings daily. This points to a pattern of repeated and coercive attempts to convert vulnerable Hindus. The participants were not confronted with overt threats but rather subjected to an environment that sought to alter their faith through manipulation and psychological influence. This exploitation of trust and the manipulation of faith-based vulnerabilities constitutes a targeted attack on the Hindu religious identity. Since the intent was to cause religious disaffection and draw individuals away from Hinduism under a false pretext, it falls squarely within the definition of a hate crime rooted in religious hostility.
Case Status
Perpetrator held guilty by court
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
