Indian Christian couple jailed for trying to convert kin
A trial court in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district on March 11 sentenced Ramesh Babulal Masih and his wife, Sakhi Ramesh Masih, to two years in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 (US$603) under the state’s Freedom of Religion Act 2021.The complainant Abhishek, a close relative of Sakhi, had accused the couple of offering him a job of 20,000 rupees monthly salary, in case he converted to Christianity.
The alleged incident took place in October 2021. Though the couple denied the charges the court found them guilty.“It is a court order and we have to respect it. At the same time, it is not a final order. The couple can challenge it in the high court, the top court in the state,” Daniel John, a Catholic leader based in Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal, said on March 15.
“The court convicted them merely based on the allegation of attempt to convert,” he told UCA News. “It is very easy for anyone to level such complaints.”The sweeping anti-conversion law, enacted by the ruling pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Madhya Pradesh, criminalizes religious conversion through misrepresentation, use of threat or force, fraud, undue influence, coercion, and allurement, among others.
“The terms such as coercion, allurement among others are vague and they need to be explained well to avoid conviction like in the case of this couple,” Advocate Govind Yadav who practices in the Supreme Court, the top court in the country, told UCA News.
“This is a strange situation where a couple is sentenced based on a mere allegation of allurement, a term not well defined in the law,” he said.Madhya Pradesh is among 11 Indian states, most of them ruled by the BJP, that have enacted the controversial anti-conversion law that targets Christians and Muslims.
“If courts start convicting people merely on the allegation of allurement, any charity can be interpreted as a case of allurement and those who do it can end up in jail,” observed a Catholic leader who did not want to be named.Christians make up less than 1 percent of the 72 million people in Madhya Pradesh and more than 80 percent of them are Hindus.
This article is originally published on https://www.ucanews.com/news/indian-christian-couple-jailed-for-trying-to-convert-kin/104463
