Following a mob of Hindu nationalists belong to Vishwa Hindu Parishad broke into the Christian worship hall in Chhattisgarh’s Rajouti village and assaulted the congregation during Sunday worship, two Christian pastors were jailed on alleged forced conversion.
There were no police actions against assailants.
The two Christians, Christopher Tirki and Jyoti Prakash Toppo were later sent to Jashpur jail.
Prior to the attack, a complaint of illegal conversion activities was reported to the police by Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
The police arrested the two pastors and filed the First Information Report (FIR), accusing the pastors of being in breach of the state anti-conversion law.
“A case under sections 295A and 34 of IPC and section 4 of the Freedom of Religion Act has been registered. Further probe on,” Manish Kunwar, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Jashpur told ANI.
According to International Christian Concern, the pastors oversee a congregation of 25 Christian families that regularly gather in a makeshift hall for worship.
“Social boycotts, disruption of worship and service, violent assaults, and imprisonment of Pastors and Christians are commonplace,” said ICC.
“People are putting allegations against us that we are doing the conversion. We don’t carry out conversions. Conversion is the issue of court and constitution. People coming to our church have not converted themselves illegally. They have converted themselves legally,” pastor Sudhir Tirki, a member of Fellowship of the Pentecostal Churches in India (FPCGI) said to ANI.
He further said that they will file a counter FIR.
