Police in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh state charged 55 Christians who took part in a Maundy Thursday service with violating a law that criminalizes religious conversion following complaints by right-wing Hindu groups.
Among them, 26 people were arrested and later released on bail, but police say they are searching for others included in the first information report (FIR).
Christian leaders denied the allegations and said the Maundy Thursday service on April 14 was “portrayed as a religious conversion activity and those who attended it were harassed for no fault of their own.”
Some 70 believers of the Evangelical Church of India gathered at their church in Fatehpur in Harihar Ganj district for the service to commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples before he was crucified.
One Christian said right-wing Hindu activists who gathered outside the church locked its two main gates. “They then began to shout slogans like ‘Stop conversion’ among other things,” he said.
When police arrived at the scene after being alerted about the incident, they questioned the Christians about their details and kept them inside the church for close to three hours.
“We were told that we were kept in the police station for our own safety, but when we were taken for a medical examination we realized that we were being charged”
Hindu leaders also entered the church and demanded the personal details of the Christians.
Officers then took the Christians, including women and children, to the police station on the assumption that they were being taken to their homes.
Later that night, the women and children were allowed to go home while 26 males were kept in custody.
“We were told that we were kept in the police station for our own safety, but when we were taken for a medical examination we realized that we were being charged,” said one of the Christians.