School principal booked under anti-conversion law in MP: Police

Police registered a first action report invoking the law against Khajurao-based convent school principal Sister Bhagya.

Published on: Feb 24, 2021, 05:05:12 IST

By Shruti Tomar, Bhopal

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The principal of a missionary school was booked under the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Ordinance 2020 on Tuesday on a complaint by a female teacher who accused her of harassment and trying to force her to convert her religion, the police said.

No arrest has been made so far, said Sandeep Khare,an inspector at the Khajuraho police station. (Representative Image) (FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSE ONLY)

Police registered a first action report invoking the law against Khajurao-based convent school principal Sister Bhagya. No arrest has been made so far, said Sandeep Khare,an inspector at the Khajuraho police station.

“A schoolteacher, Ruby Singh, filed a complaint that she has been working in the school on a contractual basis for the past four years,” Khare said. “ She belongs to a lower middle-class family and school principal Sister Bhagya came to know about her poor financial condition. The principal started pressurising her for conversion and also used undignified words for her religion. The principal was luring her and promising to increase her salary and regularize her job if she converted.”

“When she refused to change her faith, Bhagya stopped paying her salary to her. The principal sacked her from the job,” said Khare.

The MP Catholic Church’s public relation officer Maria Stephen said the missionaries school was being targeted. “The teacher was sacked after receiving a complaint from parents and students. She was warned but didn’t improve her way of teaching.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

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