NEW DELHI — A pastor in northern India remains in jail after more than three months despite winning bail because Hindu extremists filed new false charges against him, his wife said.
“We are going through troubled times, and we don’t know when this will come to an end,” said Preeti Masih, whose husband, Pastor Vijay Masih, completed 100 days in jail on Feb. 7.
The pastor of an Evangelical Church of India (ECI) congregation in Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh state, won bail orders on Jan. 16, but new cases filed against him extended his arrest term. Initially, he had been arrested on April 14, 2022, and was released on bail after three days, but then he was arrested again on Oct. 30.
Pastor Masih and 49 Christians in the Hariharganj locality of Fatehpur were arrested one after another starting last April under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, and other laws. The initial complaint was filed by an official of the local Hindu extremist Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) against 35 identified Christians and 20 unidentified Christians on April 15.
In both the complaints, the Christians are baselessly accused under provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, along with unfounded claims of forgery, cheating and criminal conspiracy.
“We have a list of about 55 Christians whom to arrest, and we have arrested 49 of them and have received NBW (non-bailable warrant) for the six who were left,” Senior Sub-Inspector of Kotwali police station in Fatehpur Santosh Kumar told Morning Star News.
He confirmed that all four of the registered complaints since April 14 repeat the same list of names with only few additions in the latter two.
“If the six who are currently not arrested abscond from the police, we have orders to attach their properties under section 82 and 83 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,” he said.
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