By Omar Rashid
This is the fourth article in a series of reports on people who won their legal battles after being falsely charged under the anti-conversion laws brought in by BJP governments in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
New Delhi: Satish Verma had barely completed a year of his undergraduate degree course in dental surgery when he decided to give up studies for good and dedicate his life to the service of Jesus Christ. His ‘calling’ came one evening in January 2020, when he felt uneasy and developed a strange headache while sitting on a bench near a wheat farm in his village in Madhya Pradesh.
A group of tribal labourers, who were working nearby, came to his rescue. “I was attacked by a dusht aatma (evil spirit). These tribal workers were believers in Jesus and they made me feel better with their prayers,” said Verma. The 27-year-old former medical student, who calls himself a preacher, lives in Barwani, an economically disadvantaged district in south-west MP. Almost one-fourth of Barwani’s population comes from tribal communities.
Verma’s initial fascination towards Jesus gradually turned into a full-time dedication as he started drifting away from the Hindu religion he was born into. He belongs to the Balai community, a Hindu Dalit caste. After coming in touch with a local church, he started conducting his own prayer sessions. Within six months of his new path, his congregations grew from just four people to 240 in attendance.
However, his association with Christian beliefs and preaching in tribal villages in Barwani was met with disapproval from some who accused him of trying to spread Christianity in the area. Verma started receiving threats from Hindutva-leaning people for conducting prayer sessions.
In October 2023, Verma was booked under the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Madhya Pradesh’s anti-conversion law after a tribal man, Kamal Singh, a driver by profession, accused him of trying to force and lure him into converting from Hinduism to Christianity.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.