On Thursday, the Madhya Pradesh Police left for Kerala to arrest six Christians accused of performing religious conversion in the Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh. Out of the eight accused persons, the Police have already arrested two persons from New Delhi and are now searching for six accused who reportedly have absconded to Kerala.
According to the reports, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) last month paid surprise visits to a few places in Damoh. It also visited a Christian missionary from Kerala named Ishu Sansth in Damoh and revealed that the authorities there were engaged in luring Dalits and converting them to Christianity. The authorities at the missionary have also been accused by locals of molesting the minor girls and threatening them to convert their religion.
The Madhya Pradesh Police took action on a complaint that was filed by Rajesh Ahirwar, a resident of Bhairavbihar village in the district, and booked eight persons in the case including the Pastor. The complaint stated that the accused were running a religious conversion drive in the village and were also sexually assaulting the minors.
Also, some local Hindus told the Police during the investigation that they had been converted to Christianity in 2013 and narrated their story. They also stated that the missionary authorities molested minor girls after converting them to Christianity. The police then registered a case under various acts, including the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The accused booked in the case have been identified as K Bijju, Philip Mathew, Renu Mathew, Thomas, Nainan Thomas, Sajan Ibrahim, Nidhi Thomas, and Appu Thomas. Reports mention that the accused fled from the city to Kerala knowing that they had been booked in a case and that the Police were searching for them. However, two, K Bijju and Philip Mathew have been arrested by the Police from New Delhi.
Meanwhile, NCPCR in the update has served the notices to the district collector and the Superintendent of Police in Damoh and demanded an action-taken report from them. The panel has also urged the government to launch a cyber forensic investigation against Mid India Christian Services, as well as disciplinary action against the chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee, Damoh.
Notably, this is not the first incident of religious conversion reported from Damoh, Madhya Pradesh. Earlier on November 18, it was reported that a Dalit couple and their families were forcefully converted to Christianity by Bishop Dr Ajai Lall and were being harassed by the Church authorities. The Dalit victim woman alleged that the Church authorities threatened them and demanded four times as much money as they had given earlier during the time of conversion.
Also, in another such case, NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo had filed a complaint against ten members of a Christian organization named Mid India Christian Society in Damoh. Kanoongo in the complaint had said that several Hindu minor students residing in the children’s home of Mid India Christian Society were converted to Christianity and were forcefully being kept away from studies. They were being lured by the missionary authorities to become a pastor in the future.
The Police then had registered an FIR under sections 42 and 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act and 3 and 5 of the MP Freedom of Religion Act, along with 370 of IPC against the 10 members.
