A Protestant pastor and his wife were arrested and kept in jail since April 2023 in Uttar Pradesh, India. They were charged under sections of Uttar Pradesh’s anti-conversion law. The couple told the court that they had been framed in a false conversion scheme.

They testified that after they had been invited to a house, the ones inviting them, allegedly members of a radical Hindu organization, accused them of conversion, saying that they asked the people in the house to convert to Christianity. The accusers planted Bibles and other false evidence at the scene. The pastor and his wife spent almost 20 months in jail before the court released them on bail in December 2024.

“They are lucky that they got bail as they were charged under the old anti-conversion law,”

said a church official helping the couple, referring to the changes in the Indian state’s anti-conversion law. This year, in July, amendments to the law imposed an even harsher penalty, including life imprisonment if found guilty under the articles of the law.

According to a Protestant pastor in Uttar Pradesh, so far in December, 19 pastors have been arrested under articles of the anti-conversion law, and more than 40 Protestants’ bail applications are waiting for approval.

In Uttar Pradesh, the number of Christians is negligible compared to the majority Hindu population. Christians only make up 0.18 per cent of the whole population of the state. But even with such small numbers, the violence against Christians is exceptionally high. Up until September, 156 violent incidents were registered that targeted Christians.

Source: UCAnews