Chhattisgarh police have apprehended as many as six people for allegedly promoting illegal conversion in the guise of providing relief from sickness in the bordering region of Balrampur district on May 19, according to reports.
According to media reports, the victim, Phoolkunwar, a resident of Basantpur police station limits near the Uttar Pradesh border, filed a complaint against the accused for allegedly luring her into embracing Christianity under the guise of treating her husband.
It’s been learned that Phoolkunwar’s husband had fallen sick, and the accused had promised her to treat him if she embraced Christianity. The victim woman was also lured with money and invited to a Changai Sabha (A religious gathering linked to promoting Christianity and offering prayers) on Sunday evenings.
However, sensing this as an attempt at illegal conversion by the accused, the victim women contacted the police and informed them about the whole incident, following which a police team raided the spot and detained as many as six accused, including three women.
“The complainant, Phoolkunwar, has filed a complaint against a few people for luring her with money and treating her husband. The accused had arrived at her doorstep and pressurised her into changing her religion. She was informed that a programme linked to conversion is being organised at the house of Manju Devi on Sunday,” informed an official of the police familiar with the development.
Upon receiving the information, a police team was then dispatched to the location, where they found the allegations to be true in nature. They (the accused) have been served a notice to produce any prior permission for organising such a programme to which they failed to produce any relative document following which a case has been registered under Sections 3 and 4 of the Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Act 1968, added the official.
It’s been reported that those arrested by the police were inciting the people for conversion in the religious gathering organised on Sunday’s evening.
It must be noted that this is not the only time that a case linked to the promotion of illegal conversion in guise of Changai Sabha has surfaced in the district; earlier, the Organiser had also reported about a similar incident linked to inciting a gathering of the locals to embrace Christianity in January this year.
The incident came to light after members of Vishwa Hindu Mahasangh accused a local couple and a few of their associates of promoting illegal conversion in Ward No. 3 of Balrampur town.
It was then reported that one of the residents of Ward No. 3 visited a gathering called in the house of one of his neighbours on January 29, where people from the neighbouring state of Jharkhand were also invited.
It was claimed that as soon as the programme commenced, the speakers started preaching about the miracles of praying in the Changai Sabha while showing the Sanatan Dharma in a bad light at the same time. They (speakers at the programme) were also allegedly luring the people with money to embrace Christianity and promote conversion.
Read the full report here: Chhattisgarh: Five detained for allegedly luring people to embrace Christianity in Balrampur
Upon receiving the information about such a gathering, members of the Vishva Hindu Mahasangh soon gathered at the spot and halted the programme. Later on, a police team also reached the spot and detained as many as five people, including the owner of the house where the said gathering was organised.
It is to be noted that cases pertaining to illegal conversion have been coming to the fore from separate regions of Chhattisgarh at regular intervals, often triggering sharp reactions from the local Hindu community. The regular emergence of such cases has also contributed to the growing demand of stringent provisions against promotion of illegal conversion in the State.
Recently, the incumbent Vishnu Deo Sai led government has also dropped hints about introducing stringent provisions in the already existing law or enacting a new anti-conversion law to deal with the long-standing issue in the tribal dominated state.
It is noteworthy that enacting a stringent law to contain the growing menace of illegal conversion was one of the much hyped pre poll promises made by the Bhartiya Janata Party, who made an impressive return to the power in the state assembly election held in November last year.
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