On Sunday, the Uttar Pradesh Police arrested an accused Christian pastor named Vijay Masih for illegally converting a group of Hindus to Christianity in the Fatehpur district of the state. The accused was absconding after he was booked in another case of illegal mass conversion of Hindus to Christianity two and a half months ago. The Police arrested him on Sunday after they got a tip against the accused who was secretively carrying out another mass conversion in Hariharganj Church of the city.
According to the reports, the incident is said to have happened on Sunday (October 30) in Hariharganj Church of Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh. The accused pastor in the name of prayers was giving lessons about Christianity to Hindus and was trying to forcefully change their religion. The Police arrived at the spot after they were informed about the illegal conversion and arrested the pastor for luring the Hindus. The Police have also recovered several Aadhaar Cards with different identities from the accused.
फतेहपुर में चर्च में कराया जा रहा था धर्मांतरण, पुलिस ने पादरी को किया गिरफ्तार #UttarPradesh #Fatehpur pic.twitter.com/ZqmSOk3pad
— News18 Uttar Pradesh (@News18UP) October 31, 2022
The accused pastor during the investigation confessed that he was illegally converting a group of Hindus to Christianity in the Hariharganj Church of the city. He said that the Aadhaar Cards recovered by the Police belonged to those Hindus who have been converted and that their identities have been updated after they have been given lessons about Christianity and converted to a new religion.
Notably, the accused was already booked in another case of illegal mass conversion to Christianity and was absconding since then. CO City Vir Singh confirmed the development and said that the accused was wanted in a case that was booked two and a half months ago. He was booked for targeting economically struggling Hindus converting them to Christianity through bribes and allurement. “The accused now has been arrested and sent to jail. More people are involved in this racket of conversion. The Police are investigating the matter and collecting evidence based on which the other accused will be identified and sent to jail soon”, he added.
Interestingly, this is not the first time that a case of illegal mass conversion of Hindus to Christianity has been reported from the city of Fatehpur. Earlier, in April this year, the Fatehpur Police had arrested 26 people including the pastor in a case of mass conversion of Hindus to Christianity in the ECI Church building in Uttar Pradesh. Police had also booked 55 people in total in the case, including 10 women. The names of the accused included Vijay Kumar Samson, Reshma Samson, Ratna Daud, Sharon, Jyoti Monalisa, Geeta Masih, and more.
The matter had come to light after the members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal surrounded the ECI Church building in Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh, and staged protests against the pastor who was allegedly converting more than 50 Hindus inside the Church. Around 100 people had gathered inside the Church on April 14 of which more than 50 were Hindus. The VHP members had also gathered outside the Church and alleged that the pastor in the name of prayers was giving lessons of Christianity to Hindus and was trying to forcefully change their religion.
Later, the accused after being released on bail continued to convert poor Hindus under the guise of a healing assembly. On receiving the complaint two and a half months ago, the police registered a case against Masih and the other persons involved. While they arrested many other accused involved in the case, they could not nab pastor Vijay Masih who went absconding from the spot. However, the accused pastor was arrested by the Police on Sunday while he was secretively luring, brainwashing innocent and poor Hindus and forcing them to convert to Christianity. Further investigations into the case are underway.
