Sexual abuse of vulnerable women by the conversion mafia is something that has been repeatedly reported from across Bharat. Be it Maulvis or Padres, they target Hindu women, particularly those who are going through some crisis, for Islamic or Christian conversion. However, many of these women are subjected to abuse by the conversion mafia.

Sexual abuse of a 32-year-old woman by a Pastor and his accomplices

A 32-year-old woman was repeatedly raped at gunpoint by a Pastor and his accomplices. The incident occurred within the jurisdiction of the Pune Airport Police. Police arrested all three accused, including a woman, in this case.

As per available information, the accused woman lured the victim to her house and kept her confined there. The two men then subjected the victim to repeated sexual abuse. All three are also accused of pressuring the victim to convert to Christianity. The three accused are Santosh Ramdas Gaikwad, Sagar Madhukar Landge, and the woman identified by her surname Ghodke.

The victim was lured to Ghodke’s house in Dhanori where she was locked up and subject to sexual abuse multiple times. Landge and Gaikwad threatened the victim at gunpoint and took turns to rape her. Furthermore, Landge later kept her locked in his house at Lohgaon and continued to sexually abuse her for months. Not only was the victim raped but the accused also recorded the act and threatened to post it on social media. She was subjected to continued sexual abuse using the threat to make the video viral on social media. The accused also vandalised the murtis and images of Hindu Devis-Devatas.

What does the FIR say?

An FIR was registered by Mamata* on 23/01/2025. The victim is a housewife separated from her husband for the past five years due to compatibility issues. At the time of the complaint, she was residing with Landge at Pune’s Lohgaon. In her complaint, she stated that she has four children (two sons and two daughters) from her husband and that her elder daughter died of cancer in 2024.

Her complaint says that due to thyroid issues, she had to join Faith Fitness Club Gym to control her weight. There, she came in contact with ladies’ trainer Mayuri Ghodke and Gym owner Santosh Gaikwad. Gaikwad introduced Mamata to his friend Landge, who frequented the Gym. Subsequently, Landge became Mamata’s trainer. Her complaint states that the three forced her to pray to Jesus whenever she went to the Gym. The victim learned that Gaikwad was a Pastor and that he and Ghodke were husband and wife.

She describes how she was invited to her house in Dhanori for lunch by Mayuri Ghodke. There Gaikwad and Landge were also present. The three gave a bible to the victim and forced her to read it. Her complaint notes that she read a page even though she wasn’t interested after which the three sang songs of Jesus.

On 27 April 2024, Mamata went to her village following her elder daughter’s death. When she narrated about her daughter to the trio after resuming her Gymming sessions, Gaikwad gave several videos, photos and other Christian Evangelical material to her and said that had she ‘visited the Church regularly and prayed’ then her daughter would’ve been ‘saved.’ Furthermore, whenever she visited the Gym after that, they would propagate Christianity.

She was subjected to sexual abuse by Gaikwad and Landge after she visited Ghodke’s house on her invitation for dinner on 25 May 2024. However, Ghodke wasn’t present at home and Gaikwad threatened her with a gun before the duo sexually abused her. They even shot a video of the sexual abuse that they used to threaten the victim to make her comply with their commands. From 26 May 2024, the victim was forced to stay with Landge. The trio destroyed the murtis and photos of Hindu Devi-Devatas and tore Mamata’s Hindu devotional books.

Subsequently, Landge would beat her after drinking and subject her to sexual abuse every day. Furthermore, the victim learnt that Gaikwad and Landge were already married and had children. She even tried to kill herself by consuming rat poison. The trio not just kept constant vigil on her but they also blackmailed her using the video.

On 2 January 2025, when Landge began his physical and sexual abuse again, the victim created a ruckus thereby alerting their landlady. The landlady evicted Landge from the house. Mamata then took the help of the Indian Human Rights Council in Chinchwad to file a police complaint against the three accused.

The FIR clearly shows how Mamata was subjected to physical and sexual abuse by Gaikwad and Landge and how the two along with Ghodke tried to pressure her to convert to Christianity.

History sheeter Gaikwad trapped a married Hindu woman earlier

It has come to light that Santosh Ramdas Gaikwad has a sexual abuse case registered against him. Gaikwad, Gym owner and trainer, had earlier trapped a married Hindu woman and sexually exploited her. The FIR copy (dated 18/08/2023) obtained by HinduPost details the ordeal of the victim Madhuri*, who was a babysitter.

She met the accused Gaikwad in 2010 when she was residing with her husband in Shirajgaon. The accused took advantage of the fact that Madhuri’s husband was a drunkard and began frequenting their house. On one such visit, he forced himself on the victim despite her resistance. He insisted that her drunkard husband wouldn’t be able to take care of her and that he would take good care of her. In return for financial and other help rendered by him, Gaikwad began exploiting the victim sexually.

In 2020, Madhuri shifted to Pune’s Dhanori along with her husband since their children (a son and a daughter) were studying in Pune. Santosh Gaikwad also shifted to Pune’s Kalvad where he worked as a trainer in a Gym owned by him. He continued exploiting Madhuri sexually till early 2023 after which he cut off all ties. The victim’s complaint says that the accused sexually exploited her for years by making false promises of ‘taking care’ of her.

Despite the sexual abuse charges against him, Gaikwad went scot-free in 2023. Two years later he found another victim to continue his sexual abuse streak.

Modus operandi of Christian conversion mafia & how Hindu Samaj needs to deal with the Christian conversion mafia

A few things are clear regarding the Christian Evangelical conversion mafia:

The conversion mafia often uses the vulnerability of the people to target them. At times it is their illness, at others it is family problems (as was the case with both the sexual abuse victims mentioned about), and at yet others financial problems of vulnerable people are used to target them for conversion. Victims are more often than not in need of emotional support.

The Evangelical mafia continues to use Hindu names – this helps to trick Hindus into friendship besides allowing them (Christian converts) to take advantage of reservation benefits meant for vulnerable sections of Hindu Samaj.

They subject women to sexual abuse and use the footage of the act to scare, shame, and control the women to do their bidding. In several cases, financial aid is used as a lure to trap vulnerable Hindus.

In both cases listed above we’ve seen that women with vulnerability and those probably lacking family support were targeted by the conversion mafia. Anti-conversion laws need stricter implementation and punishments that will act as deterrents. However, that won’t be enough and Hindu Samaj needs to be more vigilant. Hindu organizations must step up and provide legal, financial, emotional, and social support.

(* names of victims have been changed to protect their identities)

(Featured Image Source: NDTV Marathi)