(Photo : All India Christian Council/Wikimedia/CC) Remains of a church property burnt down during wide-spread attacks on Christians in the Indian state of Orissa in August 2008
Three Christian men from Gospel Echoing Missionary Society (GEMS) were apprehended for attempting to convert the local people in the village of Motawa in Madhya Pradesh, a central Indian state.
Acting on the complaint of a local right-wing activist, the police arrested three volunteers from GEMS, Stephen Rajkumar, Anil Kumar, and Harilal, who were about to show a short Gospel film at a school, according to media reports.
The arrests were made under the anti-conversion law, which requires permission from district authorities before converting. The law has been implemented in several states, and the Hindu fundamentalists want to enact this law across the nation.
They were also accused of converting people under the 'pretense' of offering prayers and asking them to read the Bible after baptism. The police said that the activist who lodged complaint against the three men claimed that he was offered Rs 5,000 ($77) by them to become a Christian.
GEMS has been doing humanitarian work in the region since 1972, and offers medical services for tribal children, orphans, disabled people and child labourers.
At the organization's medical camps, several women were reported healed of a variety of ailments, and had recently converted to Christianity.
GEMS volunteers were booked under Freedom of Religion Act and sections 295, 506 and 34 of IPC, but were later released on bail. The activists allegedly lobbied with the police to not accept their bail.
In September 2014, five pastors from Mizoram Missionary Society were arrested from Khargone in Madhya Pradesh, on alleged charges of offering Rs 100,000 ($1,540) to an Indian laborer to convert to Christianity. The society denied the charges, saying that the missionaries only get a monthly stipend of Rs 6,500 ($100), and they cannot offer such a colossal amount of money to anyone.
The officer in charge of the local police station informed Indian Express that the members were "only involved in evangelism" and were active in the village for a long time. They were on the way to hold a prayer meeting at a house in village, but were stopped by Hindu activists and were given over to police.
Ten Christians from the same Indian state were apprehended from Boragaon-Bujurg village in December last year, after a right-wing fundamentalist accused them of insulting Hindu religion and converting locals by giving them clothes and money. The Christians were invited to the house of a local for celebration, whose daughter was cured of an ailment, when they were arrested.
The Hindu activists reportedly pelted stones at the house. A Christian resident of the village said that they were expecting the police to protect them, but were instead arrested. An eight-month-old child and two minors under the age of six, were presented with one of the accused at the court, and were sent to judicial custody.
