By SABRANGINDIA
In a recent incident in Barabanki, the Uttar Pradesh police arrested about 10 people after officials stated that they busted a conversion ring at the Saint Matthews Methodist Church in the Deva area of Barabanki. Reports have alleged that the religious conversion attempt involved around 300 people in Barabanki. The event was to see people come to Barabanki from various villages in the state who, the police allege, would come enticed by promises of remedies for various illnesses and other issues. A report by the Hindustan Times has stated that most of those who were to attend the event were people from the Scheduled Caste community and that the attendees were mostly poor, vulnerable and illiterate people who had come to the church where they were allegedly being lured to change their religion.
The arrested people have been identified as Father Dominic Pinto, Dharmaraj, Surendra, Ghanshyam Gautam, Pawan, Suraj, and Sarju Prasad, with all, except Father Pinto, coming from Ayodhya. The authorities have launched an investigation and registered a case against them under relevant sections of the anti-conversion law, the Uttar Pradesh Unlawful Religious Conversion Prohibition Act, 2021, and the Indian Penal Code.
According to the report, the police were told about the alleged event by Hindutva outfits of the area. Vishwa Hindu Parishad district chief Brijesh Kumar Vaish and Bajrang Dal district convener Akhand Pratap Singh had reportedly made the first complaint. A complaint has alleged that conversion efforts were reportedly organised by one Father Pinto at the Navinta Prayer Centre and Church near St Matthew’s College in Barabanki.
This story was originally published in sabrangindia.in. Read the full story here.