Hindus pressured to convert at Christian "prayer meet"; Hindu deities insulted, Christ glorified
Durg, Chhattisgarh, India 
15 February, 2025
Case Summary
In the Amleshwar police station area of Durg district, Chhattisgarh, a religious conversion event disguised as a Christian prayer meeting created ruckus. Hindu organisations gathered in large numbers outside a house where the conversions were taking place, raising slogans and demanding action. Those inside the house locked themselves in, refusing to come out until the police intervened. The police took action based on a complaint by Meenakshi Sharma, a resident of Ayodhya Nagar, who accused Dr Vinay Sahu, Krishnakant Kurre, and Dhal Singh Sahu of orchestrating conversions. The complaint stated that Dr Sahu had organised the prayer meeting at his house at around 1 PM on February 16, 2025. Two other individuals who were present at the gathering, demeaned Hindu deities while glorifying Jesus Christ. Meenakshi further said that the accused pressured attendees, including Ritu Verma and Deepali Rajput, to convert to Christianity by offering inducements. Hindu organisations, including Bajrang Dal, arrived at the scene and staged a protest. They accused the organisers of targeting innocent and poor Hindus, luring them into conversion under false pretences. Durg Superintendent of Police (SP) Jitendra Shukla was informed, prompting the deployment of additional police forces to control the situation. The police entered the house, detained 97 people for questioning, and eventually placed three of them — Dr Vinay Sahu, Krishnakant Kurre, and Dhal Singh Sahu — under judicial custody. Dr Sahu and his associates were found to be coercing people into converting to Christianity. An FIR was registered under Sections 299 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and other relevant laws.
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- Conversion/attempts to convert through inducements. 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 relevant 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. The third sub-category under which this case has been placed is- Proselytisation by brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. 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. Here, the use of a prayer gathering as a cover suggests that the individual involved may have been using indirect methods to lure or convince others into conversion, possibly targeting vulnerable Hindus by exploiting their emotional, social, or religious needs. Further, the Christian evangelists attempted to convert Hindus through financial incentives. The use of inducements to convert individuals is indeed a common tactic in efforts to influence or manipulate vulnerable individuals into changing their faith. This approach often targets economically disadvantaged groups, offering material benefits such as food, money, or livestock in exchange for conversion. 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. Additionally, the accused also resorted to insulting Hindu deities to provoke and alienate members of the Hindu community from their faith. This tactic is usually employed not only to assert the perceived superiority of their own religious beliefs over Hinduism but also to instil doubt in the minds of Hindus, making them more susceptible to conversion. 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. Disclaimer: The report says that as many as 97 people were detained, however, since only three were arrested and sent to judicial custody, the perpetrator count has been recorded as 3 in the database.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
