Hindus lured by money to convert to Christianity in Uttar Pradesh
Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh, India 
23 February, 2025
Case Summary
In Pahari village, in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh, a church was built and the Hindus were lured by money to convert to Christianity by five Christians. A Christian prayer meeting was going on at the house of Vijay Singh, a Christian Pastor, and a resident of Sandi Nagin village. A large number of Hindu children along with elders were present in it. In this meeting, Hindus were lured by money to convert to Christianity. A villager of the Pahari village informed the police and the police came and arrested the accused Christians. When the police arrived at the spot, the Christians ran away. However, the police managed to arrest the four accused. They were identified as Vijay, Ajit, Ravi and Sushma. A police team was formed to arrest the fifth accused who was a girl from Amethi. According to the police, the main accused Vijay used to target people from the villages of Amethi and Raebarelli. He used to call them to his house and ask them to convert to Christianity. When they refused to convert then he would lure them with money. According to CO Sadar Amit Singh, the main accused Vijay used to live in Ludhiana. He came to the village a few years ago. He married a woman named Sita. Sita converted to Christianity and changed her name to Easter. After this Vijay also converted to Christianity. The accused had two children. He then started his conversion activities in the villages of Amethi and Raebareli.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Predatory Proselytisation. Under this, the 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. In this case, the Christian extremists were offering money to vulnerable Hindu villagers in an attempt to disenfranchise them from their professed faith and convert them to Christianity. Luring people to convert to a different faith by offering money and inducements such as money, free food, free education or free medical treatment is predatory in nature since the extremists manipulate the specific vulnerabilities of the disadvantaged and the poor to manipulate them into conversion. This stems from inherent hostility towards the victim's professed faith since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent to the faith is a subject to be dehumanised till they convert. Since such predatory actions stem from doctrinal animosity towards the victim's faith, this case is being documented as a religiously motivated hate crime.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
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