Christian missionary school forces Hindu students to pray to Jesus
Uttar Dinajpur district, West Bengal, India 
7 February, 2025
Case Summary
In Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal, students of the Hindu tribal community were forced to pray to Jesus at St Ignatius High School. The parent of a Class 9 student, Talu Hasda wrote a complaint letter in which he stated that his minor son, who resides in a hostel and studies in Class 9 at St. Ignatius High School, Majlishpur, was forcibly taken to church and made to pray despite not being a Christian. The parent stated that their family follows Sanatan Dharma (Hinduism), but Father Bibhuti (the priest) forces students to attend church prayers every day. On January 30, 2025, at 6:00 AM, when the boy refused to go to church, he was taken forcefully, and after prayers, was subjected to physical abuse by the priest. The priest grabbed his collar, lifted him, and struck him in front of other students. The boy sustained injuries to his back which left him traumatised and scared. The parents feared that their son and other non-Christian students were being forced into Christian practices against their will.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The case has been added as a religiously motivated hate crime under two prime categories. The first is- Predatory Proselytisation and within this, the sub-category selected is- Harassment, threat, 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. The second sub-category selected within the above-mentioned category is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. Within this, the tertiary category chosen 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. The second category selected here is- Attack not resulting in death and within this, the sub-category selected is- Attacked for refusal to convert. When there is pressure, threat or coercion employed upon the Hindu victim to convert to a different religion, in several cases, the victim refuses to succumb to the pressure/threats. Once the victim refuses, the perpetrator proceeds to attack/assault the victim owing to his/her refusal to convert. In such cases, the pressure/threat/intimidation/coercion/violence itself is driven by animosity towards the victim’s Hindu faith. The violence then is another hate crime driven by the victim’s refusal to abandon his professed faith, Hinduism, and convert to the religion of a non-Hindu perpetrator. Since the victim’s faith is at the heart of the pressure to convert and the ensuing violence towards the victim, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. This incident highlights a clear case of religious coercion and intimidation faced by a Hindu student at a Christian missionary school in Majlishpur. Despite belonging to a Sanatan Hindu family, the student was reportedly forced to attend church prayers every day. When he refused to participate, he faced severe harassment and physical violence at the hands of a priest. The systematic enforcement of Christian religious practices on non-Christian students, especially through pressure and intimidation, suggests a deliberate attempt to manipulate and alter their religious identity. What makes this case particularly alarming is the use of force and humiliation to ensure compliance. The student was allegedly forcibly taken to the church, grabbed by the collar, lifted off the ground, and struck in front of other students. This act of aggression was not just a form of punishment but an attempt to instil fear and suppress any resistance to religious imposition. It is important to highlight here that the victim in this case was a minor, indicating 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.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 1
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 0
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
