Illegal conversion: Police arrest pastor for luring villagers to Christianity in Balrampur, Chhattisgarh

The Balrampur police have arrested a pastor for promoting illegal conversion on the pretext of providing health benefits, education and money. The arrest was made after the police received a complaint from a local woman who accused the said pastor of influencing his husband and others to embrace Christianity through lure.

According to the complaint of the victim, accused Pastor Ranjit Bada, a resident of Jhingadad Karji, she had been inciting the villagers, including her husband, to convert by promising them that after converting to Christianity they would have a life free from disease and poverty.

The victim in her complaint has further accused Ranjit, who has been living in Laduwa village in Balrampur district for the past 3-4 years, of running a temporary church in his house, a place he uses to incite the villagers to convert. The said pastor has allegedly convinced a section of the villagers to follow Christianity, who also attend weekly meetings that Ranjit convenes every Sunday.

She also accuses Ranjit of luring people with health care, money and quality education for children. According to the victim, her own husband fell victim to his false promises and started attending the weekly meetings.

In her written complaint, the woman states that her husband, under the influence of Ranjit, pressures her to convert to Christianity, which regularly leads to disagreements in the family.

Following the complaint, the police arrested the pastor and booked him under Section 299 of Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and other relevant sections of the Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Act. The accused pastor was later produced in court.

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It is worth mentioning here that despite the incumbent government introducing stringent provisions in the anti-conversion law, cases of illegal conversion are still surfacing in the remote areas of the state, where mainly the tribal population lives.

In a similar case, reported by Organizer From Balrampur itself, police on May 19 arrested as many as six people for allegedly promoting illegal conversion on the pretext of providing relief from diseases in the border region.

The case came to light after the victim, Phoolkunwar, a resident of Basantpur police station, near the Uttar Pradesh border, filed a complaint against the accused for allegedly luring her into Christianity on the pretext of treating her husband.

According to the details, the accused had promised the victim to treat her husband if she embraced Christianity. The victim woman was also lured with money and invited to a Changai Sabha (a religious gathering associated with promoting Christianity and offering prayers).

However, the victims realized that there was a ruse behind the invitation and contacted the police. They narrated the entire incident. Subsequently, a police team raided the spot and arrested as many as six suspects, including three women.

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A case was also registered against the accused under Sections 3 and 4 of the Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Act, 1968, for not giving prior consent for organising such a gathering.

It should be noted that earlier the Organizer had also reported about a similar incident related to instigating a gathering of locals to embrace Christianity in Balrampur district in January this year.

It then came to light that as soon as the programme started, the speakers started preaching about the wonders of prayer in the Changai Sabha, while at the same time denigrating Sanatan Dharma. They (the speakers on the programme) were also said to have lured people with money to embrace Christianity and promote conversion.

The incident came to light after one of the members of a local Hindu group unknowingly visited the premises of Changai Sabha in Ward 3 of Balrampur city. He immediately informed the other members of the Vishwa Hindu Mahasangh, who then stopped the meeting by reaching the spot.

It was then reported that the Sabha was called at the house of one of the neighbours of the said youth, where people from the neighbouring state of Jharkhand were also invited. On receiving the information, a police team subsequently arrested five people, including the owner of the house where the meeting was organised.

It is to be noted that cases of illegal conversion come to light regularly from different regions of Chhattisgarh, often triggering strong reactions from the local Hindu community, which has been reiterating its demand for a strict anti-conversion law in the tribal-dominated state.