DELHI, India — A Christian pastor and his associate, jailed for alleged violation of the state of Orissa’s anti-conversion law, were released on bail July 14 after more than six weeks of incarceration. Subas Samal and Dhaneshwar Kandi of Kilipal village were arrested May 29 and were charged with conversion by inducement under the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act (OFRA).
Their arrest came after local Hindu villagers forcibly shaved the heads of Samal and six local Christian women to mark their re-conversion to Hinduism.
After Hindu villagers were arrested in connection with that incident, locals retaliated by bringing charges of illegal conversion against Samal and Kandi.
A court magistrate insisted on carefully studying the case file on Samal and Kandi before granting their bail, because theirs is the first case brought under the state’s anti-conversion law.
Now free, the Christians hope to negotiate a peaceful solution to the conflict with their Hindu neighbors in Kilipal.
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