Madhya Pradesh High Court in central India has granted bail to five of nine Christians arrest-ed a month ago on charges of violating a law that criminalizes religious conversions.
The court on Feb. 4 granted bail after state police failed to substantiate the charges filed against the five.
“The other four in jail are also expected to get bail this week as they have moved the High Court against a trial court that denied them bail,” said Pastor Patras Savil, who is helping those arrested to secure their legal rights.
Police in Indore city on Jan. 26 charged 11 Christians with violating Madhya Pradesh’s stringent anti-conversion law following complaints from right-wing Hindu activists. They could arrest only nine as two were reported to have absconded.
The Hindu activists forced their way into a Protestant prayer service inside Satprakashan Sanchar Kendra, a Catholic media center owned and managed by the Society of Divine Word.
When police arrived, the Hindu activists complained that the Christians were involved in mass religious conversion in violation of the law implemented in January that criminalizes religious conversion through allurement, force, coercion and marriage.
“We are very happy that five got bail. They were falsely implicated in the case and put behind bars for more than a month,” Father Babu Joseph, director of the media center, told.