Poor Hindu families targeted for conversion to Christianity under the garb of curing illnesses
Dhule, Maharashtra, India 
20 May, 2025
Case Summary
In the Raskarnagar area of Dhule city, multiple poor Hindu families were targeted by a Christian evangelist for religious conversions. The incident occurred at Bhausaheb Hiray Government Medical College, where young women were seen distributing books and encouraging female patients to convert. It has been stated that the patients were being converted by Christian evangelists through the distribution of Christian religious literature free of cost. Victims were promised that reading Christian literature and converting to Christianity would cure incurable diseases, eliminate life's troubles and bring prosperity in life. When one of the activists confronted the women, they fled the scene. Two activists tracked their movements and discovered that the women had taken shelter in a residence in Raskarnagar. The information was relayed to MLA Anup Agarwal, who personally visited the location with his associates. Upon inspection of the house, approximately 1,500 to 2,000 books intended for religious conversion were found. After which, police were contacted and a case was registered.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of: - Predatory proselytisation. Within it, the sub-category selected 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 other sub-category relevant here 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 has been added to the tracker because Christian evangelists were targeting vulnerable Hindu patients in a government hospital. In a hospital, people are already emotionally vulnerable and distressed. Targeting people for conversion when they are helpless, emotionally vulnerable, is one of the worst kinds of depravity. Distributing religious literature under the false pretext that it would cure their illnesses or would solve their life’s problems is not an act of compassion, but rather a calculated attempt at religious brainwashing, targeting their emotional vulnerability for religious conversion. 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 emotional manipulation. This also includes, as in this case, misleading patients into believing that their medical conditions can be healed through converting to Christianity. Such tactics do not constitute free will or informed choice, rather, they rely on deception, emotional manipulation, and the strategic targeting of those who are vulnerable. It creates a form of dependency that can alienate individuals from their original faith, as they may feel compelled to convert not out of genuine belief but due to immediate needs or financial pressures. Here, too, the Christian evangelists adopted a similar tactic of exploiting the vulnerability of the Hindus to convert them to Christianity. 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.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
female
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