Sick Hindu woman targeted for forced conversion in Jabalpur; Hindu idols replaced with Christian symbols
Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India 
1 February, 2025
Case Summary
In the Ranjhi area of Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, a Hindu woman, Neetu Raikwar, a resident of Parashuram Basti, suffering from a prolonged illness, was targeted for forced religious conversion by members of the Christian community. The accused individuals promised her a miraculous recovery and economic improvement if she abandoned her Hindu faith and adopted Christianity. The woman was repeatedly coerced and eventually threatened when she and her husband resisted conversion. The accused also removed images of Hindu deities from the woman’s home and replaced them with a Christian cross and an image of Jesus Christ. According to the complaint filed at the Ranjhi police station, Neetu had been unwell for some time when one of the accused, Manoj Pille, along with three others, Vinod, Rajiv, and an unidentified individual, visited her home on 2 February 2025. Claiming that Christian prayers and worship would cure her illness and improve her financial situation, they gave her ₹2,000 and instructed her to collect Christian religious items. They also promised to return in twenty days. On 16 February, the accused returned with food items and asked her to invite neighbours for a gathering. Women from nearby homes, including Siya Bai Kol and Manju Kol, were called. The accused then removed images of Hindu deities from the woman’s home and replaced them with a Christian cross and an image of Jesus Christ. They conducted a prayer session and declared to all present that they had now become Christians. Despite initial confusion, Neetu's husband strongly opposed the conversion, and the family refused to abandon their faith. Following repeated threats and pressure, the woman finally approached the Ranjhi police station. Based on her complaint, a case was registered under the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act against all four accused, who are residents of the Ranjhi area.
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 other 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 other sub-category selected 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. The other sub-category selected is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. Within it, the tertiary sub-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 qualifies as a religiously motivated hate crime as it involves clear attempts to convert a vulnerable Hindu woman through inducement, harassment, and denigration of her faith. The victim, Neetu Raikwar, was in a physically and emotionally fragile state due to prolonged illness, and the accused exploited her vulnerability to target her religious identity. Offering her ₹2,000 and false promises of recovery and prosperity in exchange for abandoning her Hindu faith is a textbook example of conversion by inducement, where financial and emotional manipulation is used to coerce a change of religion. The intent was not simply charitable; it was targeted, strategic, and intended to break her religious continuity. Furthermore, the case involves harassment, threats, and coercion for conversion, as the woman was repeatedly pressured to adopt Christian religious practices. She and her family were intimidated and coerced with repeated visits. The accused placed a Christian cross and image of Jesus Christ in her place of worship without consent, and conducted group prayers declaring the participants as Christians. Such invasive and forceful behaviour constitutes not just harassment but also a violation of religious freedom, carried out specifically because the woman is identified as Hindu. The threats that followed when she and her husband refused to convert further reinforce the coercive nature of the act. Notably, the accused did not limit their actions to Neetu Raikwar alone. When they returned on 16 February, they explicitly asked her to invite other local women—including Siya Bai Kol, Manju Kol, and others—to participate in the forced religious gathering. This indicates that the accused were not acting out of personal concern for Neetu’s health but were instead systematically targeting vulnerable Hindu women in the community for mass conversion under the guise of faith healing and economic relief. Such patterned targeting of Hindus, especially women, by exploiting illness and poverty, reveals an organised attempt to erase religious identity through inducement, manipulation, and coercion. The removal of Hindu deities’ images from the home and their replacement with Christian symbols in the presence of other Hindu women was a performative act designed to undermine and delegitimise Hindu beliefs publicly, thereby normalising conversion and religious replacement. The removal of Hindu deities’ images from the home and their replacement with Christian symbols was an intentional act of religious replacement and cultural erasure. By eliminating the woman’s right to practise her own faith and replacing it with religious symbols of another faith, the accused were not merely proselytising but attempting to devalue and delegitimise her religious identity. Such denigration, whether overt or symbolic, reveals animosity toward the Hindu faith. In conclusion, these actions illustrate that the victim was targeted not as an individual alone, but as a Hindu. The perpetrators aimed to erase her Hindu identity through psychological, emotional, and social manipulation. Hence, this case is documented in the hate crime database. Disclaimer: Although the report clearly states that other Hindu women were also called to the gathering and exposed to the same conversion efforts, it does not specify a fixed number of victims. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we are recording this case with one primary victim.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
