Christians imprisoned under India’s ‘anti-conversion’ law
Six pastors and another Christian in India have begun serving their five-year prison sentences under an “anti-conversion” law, two years after they were falsely accused at a child’s birthday party, sources said.
The Christians were convicted on June 12 of “promoting enmity, hatred, or disharmony between different religious groups,” “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings” under the Indian Penal Code and luring people to convert under Madhya Pradesh state’s anti-conversion law against fraudulent or forced conversion.
“By entangling these six pastors in a false case, opponents have succeeded in shutting down churches at six locations, scattering the believers and instilling fear in them,” a source told Morning Star News.
Pastors Santosh Paraste, 21, Sanjay Markam, 20, Amit Kumar, 24, Pramod Singh, 28, Karan Singh Maravi, 40, and Chhot Singh Dhurve, 49, all residents of Diwari village, along with Jeet Singh, 48, another Christian of Pipariya village, Dindori District, were arrested on a complaint by Angad Singh Maravi. An anti-Christian neighbor who disrupted the birthday party they were attending in 2024, Angad Singh Maravi is a follower of traditional indigenous religion who accused them of luring residents to convert.
Christian Daily.
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