Dalits lured to convert to Christianity under garb of prayer meeting in Udaipur, Rajasthan
Udaipur, Rajasthan, India 
15 February, 2025
Case Summary
An incident of forced religious conversion has surfaced in Udaipur, leading to the detention of several individuals following the intervention of MP Mannalal Rawat. According to Sabla police station officer Raghuveer Singh, the MP had lodged a complaint with the Udaipur Range IG, alleging that forced conversions were taking place at Chhaganlal's house in Munged Bhagora Fala. Acting on the complaint, the police, under the leadership of Sabla police station in-charge Raghuveer Singh, swiftly conducted a raid at Chhaganlal Bhagora's residence in Munged Bhagora Fala. Investigations revealed that Chhaganlal Bhagora, who had himself converted to Christianity, had organised a prayer gathering at his house to encourage others to convert. At the time of the raid, six men and five women were present at the location, all of whom belonged to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This particular case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under the sub-category: Proselytisation by brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, under the core category of 'Predatory Proselytisation' because the details of the case clearly demonstrate the perpetrator's bias against the victim's faith and the deliberate attempt to alienate them from their religious identity. 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. As such, this constitutes a religiously motivated hate crime as actions like these are driven by intolerance towards the victim's religious identity and aim to coerce them into abandoning their faith.
Victim Details
Total Victim
11
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 6
- Female 5
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 11
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 0
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 11
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
