Parents of 24-yr-old among 11 booked under anti-conversion law
- According to the FIR, the woman said her parents lied and took her to a church, and were forcing her to adopt Christianity.
The parents of a 24-year-old Hindu woman and nine others have been booked under the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Ordinance, 2020, for allegedly forcing her to convert to Christianity in a ceremony held in Indore on Tuesday night, the police said.
The FIR was registered on a complaint by the woman, Shalini Kaushal, at the Bhanwarkuan police station against her parents Rakesh Kaushal and Rani Kaushal under Section 3 and 5 of the MP Freedom of Religion Ordinance, said HN Mishra, deputy inspector general (DIG) of police, Indore. Nine others were named in the FIR.
Police have arrested the parents and seven others. The accused were produced before a court on Wednesday and were sent to judicial custody, said a police officer.
According to the FIR, “Shalini said that her parents Rakesh and Rani lied to her and took her to a church Satprakashan Sanchar Kendra, Indrapuri, Indore to attend a programme of Christian missionary. In the programme, the accused were saying that God will help you...Some women beat me up. They were forcing people to adopt Christianity. I am Hindu by religion but my parents and others were forcing me to convert. Like me, there were two more people, who were being forced for conversion.”
DIG HN Mishra said, “We are checking the background of accused and also the involvement of the centre’s office-bearers. We are also investigating to know whether it was a mass conversion programme or not as most of the participants were Hindu.”
The Centre’s director, Father Babu Joseph, said: “There is a convention centre in the Church premises, but I don’t know about any programme. People are free to organize any programme without taking any permission, but we don’t promote conversion. I will look into the matter.”
Bajrang Dal workers entered in the hall in large number and created a scene. Bajrang Dal, Indore leader Tannu Sharma said, “We came to know that more than 150 people from across the state had been brought to Indore for conversion. We reached there and stopped the accused from doing so. Many people told us that they were being forced to convert.”
Less time to read?
Try Quickreads
-
Tyagi used car sticker from ‘old colleague’ Swami Prasad Maurya, probe on: Cops
Absconding politician Shrikant Tyagi, on the run for four days, was brought to the Noida Police Commissionerate on Tuesday hours after Tyagi was arrested from Meerut. Noida police commissioner Alok Singh said Tyagi has an 'MLA' sticker on one of his vehicles he said was given to him by his “old political colleague” Swami Prasad Maurya. Singh said a total of 12 teams were constituted to nab the accused.
-
Bengaluru gets a new steel bridge: 5 things to know about it
The much-awaited Shivananda circle steel bridge is likely to be opened this Independence Day. This steel bridge is expected to decongest the traffic at Shivananda circle signal which is usually packed with the commuters of Malleshwaram, Majestic and Chalukya circle. Here are five things to know about the steel bride: The steel bridge is reportedly 493-metre-long and it is supported by 16 pillars throughout the road.
-
Man held for duping Delhi ‘granthi’ on pretext of ‘kirtan’ opportunity in US
New Delhi A 51-year-old man was arrested for allegedly duping a Sikh priest of over ₹1 lakh on the pretext of providing 'kirtan' opportunity in America, police said on Tuesday. The accused has been identified as a resident of Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Sanjay Yadav, they said, adding that he was previously involved in two cases of cheating in Delhi and Mumbai.
-
Senior citizen loses ₹2.4L to ‘electricity bill’ fraud
Mumbai A 62-year-old local resident allegedly lost ₹2.44 lakh to cyber frauds who posed as executives from the electricity company and threatened to disconnect supply to his house due to non-payment of the bill. Police said that the victim, a real estate agent, received a message on his phone on Monday which said that his electricity supply would be disconnected due to the non-payment of power bill.
-
Delhi's Covid cases on rise, but no need to panic, says CM Arvind Kejriwal
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said there is no need to panic over the latest rise in Covid-19 cases and necessary action will be taken to bring the situation under control. According to data released by the health department, the capital witnessed the highest positivity rate since January 21 with 17.85 per cent on August 7. The number of active Covid-19 cases in Delhi stands at 7,484.
