Minor tribal girls forced to read Bible and participate in Christian prayers at hostel

Case Summary
An incident of attempted religious conversion surfaced at a tribal girls' hostel in Chirva, Bhikangaon, Madhya Pradesh. Hostel warden Rita Kharte forced students to read the Bible and participate in Christian prayers at night. The students also stated they were made to perform hostel chores, such as washing utensils and cleaning wheat. Fifteen students from classes 4 and 5, distressed by the physical and mental harassment, left the hostel and went home. Upon returning, they were reportedly beaten. Following complaints, Bhikangaon Block Education Officer (BEO) Dineshchandra Patel conducted an inspection. During the investigation, Bible books and prayer materials were recovered from the hostel, confirming the students’ allegations. Warden Rita Kharte was immediately removed from her position, and Sangeeta Yadav was appointed as the new superintendent. Parents of the affected students demanded a fair inquiry, and the BEO submitted a detailed report to the Assistant Commissioner of the Tribal Affairs Department. The report recommended strict action against those involved to ensure justice for the students.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Predatory proselytisation. Under this, the first sub-category selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. Further, the tertiary category selected under this is- Conversion of minor. 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 second sub-category under which this case has been placed 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. In this subcategory, we would only include cases where the victim was harassed, threatened or coerced to convert. Cases where attempts were made to convert but the victim resisted would be documented in another sub-category. 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. In this case, it was observed that minors were systematically subjected to both subtle and overt attempts to alter their religious beliefs. Hindu students were reportedly coerced into reading the Bible and participating in Christian prayers, indicating a deliberate effort to influence their religious identity. In addition, they were forced to perform physical labour, such as washing utensils and cleaning wheat, and were reportedly beaten when they resisted. These actions not only deprived the students of their freedom of choice but also created an environment in which they may have felt pressured to comply due to the intimidation tactics employed. The students were put in a vulnerable position, where their dissent was met with force, further reinforcing the coercive nature of the situation. It is important to note here that since the victims were minors, there was a lack of consent and a genuine change of conscience. It is a well-established fact that children are more susceptible to manipulation since they are still developing emotionally, cognitively, and socially. Their brains are not fully matured, making them more vulnerable to influence and less capable of critically evaluating information. Moreover, subtle manipulation tactics can be difficult to detect, especially when employed by trusted authority figures in positions of influence. This makes it challenging for parents, to identify and address instances of religious manipulation. Consequently, cases involving religious manipulation of minors not only represent an infringement on an individual's religious freedom but also demonstrate a calculated strategy of targeting those who are less able to resist or understand the long-term implications of conversion, making it a significant case of religious-motivated hate crime. For this reason, this case has been added to the tracker.

Case Status
Complaint filed

Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
female