Hindu families targeted for conversion through prayer meetings, fake healing and monetary inducements by Christian evangelists in Jharkhand
Giridih, Jharkhand, India 
23 May, 2025
Case Summary
In the village of Dhanwar block, Jharkhand, Hindu families were targeted and converted by Christian missionaries for over four years, in an organised religious conversion under the guise of healing practices. This revelation occurred at the home of Sita Devi, where representatives from a Hindu organisation arrived to investigate reports of suspicious religious activities. Upon their arrival, they discovered a gathering where dozens of rural women had been lured by agents with the promise of being cured of diseases through prayer and conversion to Christianity. These women were pressured to renounce Hinduism and embrace Jesus, with instructions to read the Bible and drink a healing mixture of oil and water. According to Sita Devi, this location previously hosted Shiv Charcha, a form of Hindu religious gathering, but for the past four years it has been used as a hub for conversion activities. She stated that, influenced by these agents, many villagers also removed Hindu symbols and deities from their homes. Furthermore, financial incentives were offered in exchange for religious conversion to economically vulnerable families. When members of the Hindu organisations confronted the gathering and warned them against such superstitious practices, a scuffle broke out with some of the women defending the conversions. It has been reported that this was not an isolated incident; similar cases have been reported from nearby villages such as Jamkhokharo in Deori block, Giridih district, where such conversion networks have been active for over two decades, particularly targeting Hindu women. The growing spread of such activities in Giridih and Koderma districts has prompted calls for administrative intervention to curb coercive and deceptive conversions exploiting rural populations under the pretext of religious faith.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of: - Predatory proselytisation. Within it, the first 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 second 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 third sub-category selected here is: - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, with the tertiary category being: - 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. The fourth 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. In this case, a Christian missionary network targeted economically vulnerable and tribal Hindu communities under the guise of fake healing and monetary inducements. The use of false promises of curing illness in exchange for religious conversion constitutes inducement. When someone is made to believe their survival or well-being depends on renouncing their faith, it is not a choice but coerced conversion. The fundamental motive behind the conversion drive is to detach the victims from their Hindu identity, making it a religiously motivated hate crime. This strips them of genuine choice, turning the act of conversion into one of manipulation and exploitation. Monetary incentives were offered to those who agreed to convert further proves that the Christian missionaries directly targeted the economic vulnerability of the poor Hindus. Similarly, many Hindus were brainwashed as well and made to throw out Hindu religious symbols and deities from their homes. This act of purging their previous faith under the influence of Christian evangelists exemplifies religious brainwashing and a systematic attempt to erase Hindu identity. When Hindu organisations attempted to expose these fraudulent healing practices, some of the women reacted aggressively, reflecting the depth of psychological manipulation and loyalty induced by the missionaries. The fact that these individuals reacted not with doubt but with hostility toward those questioning the practices is a stark indicator of the extent of indoctrination. The Christian faith, by its very theological foundations, places a strong emphasis on proselytisation. In pursuit of conversion objectives, Christian evangelists often employ unethical means, ranging from psychological pressure and misinformation to inducements such as money or jobs. These tactics are designed not as acts of charity but as tools to engineer religious change under the guise of social upliftment, particularly among vulnerable and underprivileged communities. This pattern of coercion, conversion through inducement or religious brainwashing, shows that the conversions were a result of manipulation and deceit rather than a genuine change of heart. Thus, this case reflects religiously motivated hate crimes rooted in an underlying animosity towards the Hindu identity, exploiting vulnerabilities to alienate individuals from their Hindu faith. Hence, this case has been added to the tracker.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
