Hindus enticed with financial incentives and 'healing' promises for conversion to Christianity

Case ID : f6649c6 | Location : Mahrajganj, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 15 March, 2025

Case ID : f6649c6

Mahrajganj, Uttar Pradesh, India

15 March, 2025

Hindus enticed with financial incentives and 'healing' promises for conversion to Christianity

Predatory Proselytisation

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Case Summary

In Tarkulwa, also known as Bhatgaon, in the Maharajganj tehsil of Uttar Pradesh, hundreds of Hindus were offered financial incentives to convert to Christianity under the guise of a Christian prayer meeting. According to Dainik Bhaskar, every Sunday, Hindus in Tarkulwa village were lured into converting to Christianity through financial inducements. The primary suspect behind this conversion racket was a man named Sugriv, against whom a prior case had already been registered. On the day of the incident, Bajrang Dal district convener Balram Gupta, along with his associates and RSS members, alerted the police. The police responded immediately and reached the location, where they arrested nine suspects. Those taken into custody were identified as Dayaram Goswami, Mahendranath, Rajan Bharti, Chhangur Gupta, Premnath Bharti, Ramkesh, Ramdarsh, Chhaya, and Vidyawati. As per Live Hindustan’s report, Bajrang Dal district coordinator Balram Gupta, along with Ravi Rana and Adarsh from Tarkulwa Bhatgaon village, received information about an illegal attempt to convert poor and sick Hindus under the false pretext of healing. A large prayer meeting had been organised for this purpose. The report also stated that the main accused, Sugriv, had been absconding since 2023. All the suspects were booked under Sections 3 and 5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. The police confirmed that a thorough investigation was underway. SHO Abhishek Singh stated that the nine arrested individuals had been presented before the court. Incidents of predatory Christian conversions are not new in Maharajganj. On 9th March 2025, in Kanjar Basti, within the Maharajganj Kotwali area of Uttar Pradesh, a group of Hindu women were lured by members of Christian missionary groups with various incentives to convert to Christianity. In that case, the police arrested and charged all five accused under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of- Predatory proselytisation. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Conversion/attempts to convert by 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. In this particular case, the Christian evangelists were attempting to exploit a specific vulnerability of the victims who were, in all likelihood, economically backward. The missionaries exploited the poor victims by offering them money and promising them cures for their ailments - cures that they either could not afford or for incurable diseases. 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 details of this case reveal that more than 100 people were baptised by the accused; however, since it does not mention the exact number of victims, we have conservatively added 100 as the victim counts in the database.