RANCHI: In a shocking case of forced conversion, a man in Hazaribagh of Jharkhand has accused a few individuals for allegedly coercing him into conversion and later assaulting him when he refused to comply with their demand of conversion, suggest media reports.
The incident come to light after the victim lodged a complaint against a woman identified as Sheela Devi and other individuals for pressurising and assaulting him for embracing Christianity.
According to the reports, the accused Sheela Devi along with his associates was pressurising the victim and his family to embrace Christianity for long, however the victim Prabhu Kumar openly refused to change his religion in a Chnagai Sabha (religious prayer ceremony) called on Saturday, October 19.
The refusal led to a heated exchange between the victim and people associated with the conversion apparatus, after which the latter reportedly assaulted the victim family, injuring a youth. The injured person was later rushed to the hospital for treatment.
A complaint in regard to the incident has been lodged by the victim against the accused woman Sheela and other associates. The incident pertains to Mandai Kala village under Lohsinghana police station limits of Hazaribagh.
The prime accused Sheela Devi is said to be organising such prayer ceremonies (Changai Sabhas) in the area for quite some time. The meetings are reportedly branded as Satsangs, where the organisers claim to treat people affected by negative powers or other ailments.
Conversion related activities in Jharkhand
It is noteworthy, that conversion related activities have been keep emerging from separate corners of the state on regular intervals, indicating a larger ongoing attempt to lure the local residents of remote villages into changing their religion.
The state of Jharkhand has a significant population of tribals, a community affected heavily by the augmenting menace of illegal conversion promoted by missionaries.
Earlier in a similar case reported by Organiser, locals of Sonehara village under Dandi police station limits of Garhwa district had thwarted a plot of illegal conversion after they caught an individual enticing a gathering of people for conversion on September 01.
Vikas Mehra, a resident of the neighboring Parva Mod area had called a meeting of the locals in Sonehara village, where he was enticing the gathering for conversion alongside distributing religious literature among them. However, Mehra was soon confronted by a section of other villagers who surprisingly appeared on the scene and caught him red handed, leading to his detention.
The said individual was reportedly offering free rice bags, financial assistance and other facilities to those willing to change their religion. He was also alleged of passing inappropriate comments on Sanatan Dharma while praising the Christian faith at the same time.
In another such case reported from Hazaribagh itself, a number of women from Mumarak village of Ichak block had also registered a complaint against a few individual for enticing them for conversion in August this year.
According to the complainants, those promoting conversion were claiming to treat sick individuals with prayers. The women had claimed that the conversion agents were luring people, particularly the women villagers with money and other benefits.
It was then reported, that a few of the women were also warned of catching severe illnesses if they refuse to convert. Further the conversion agents were also offering people with monthly income if they could convince other individuals to attend the local Church.
Notably, majority of the people from these remote villages who are misled towards attending such meetings aimed at conversion have a poor economical background, making them vulnerable target for missionaries who lure them into conversion on pretext of providing financial help and other facilities.
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