Hindu women and children lured to convert to Christianity by offering food and money

Case ID : f664961 | Location : Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 20 March, 2025

Case ID : f664961

Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India

20 March, 2025

Hindu women and children lured to convert to Christianity by offering food and money

Predatory Proselytisation

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Case Summary

In Jawahar Nagar, Kankarkheda, Meerut, Hindu women and children were lured into converting to Christianity through promises of food and money. The accused, a Christian man and woman, were reportedly attempting to convert economically vulnerable Hindus by reading out religious scriptures. According to news reports, the conversions were taking place at a Dharamshala in Jawahar Nagar, where Hindu women and children were enticed with food and financial incentives. A Hindu youth named Sarvesh Upadhyay, a resident of Tej Vihar Colony on Rohta Road, lodged a complaint at the police station, stating that religious conversions had been happening at the Hindu Dharamshala for a long time. Sarvesh received information that a man and woman from the Christian community were inside the Dharamshala attempting to convert people. Upon learning this, he immediately went to the location. According to Sarvesh, around 50 women and children were gathered inside the Dharamshala, where a woman was delivering sermons from a religious book and speaking about religious conversion. When Sarvesh arrived, the people present at the scene objected to his presence. He said that both accused individuals fled from the location during the commotion. During this, he managed to record a video of the incident on his mobile phone. Hindu organisations were informed and they soon arrived at the scene. The National President of the All India Hindu Security Organisation, Sachin Sirohi, along with his supporters, reached Kankarkheda police station and condemned the incident. He stated that illegal religious conversion would not be tolerated. According to Sachin Sirohi, the two accused were managers of prominent convent schools in the city. The police assured that appropriate action would be taken following an investigation based on the complaint.

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.