Seven Christians — six of them pastors — were sentenced to “rigorous” imprisonment after being convicted on false charges of violating an anti-conversion law in India.
The seven were falsely accused of enticing people with money to convert to Christianity, reported Morning Star News. A birthday party for a 5-year-old girl sparked the accusations.
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The seven were convicted June 12 under India’s penal code of “promoting enmity, hatred or disharmony between different religious groups” and “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings,” as well as a provision under the anti-conversion law in India’s Madhya Pradesh state regarding luring people to convert.
Fines
In addition to five years of rigorous imprisonment, they were fined $1,040, reported Morning Star News.
The six pastors are Santosh Paraste, Sanjay Markam, Amit Kumar, Pramod Singh, Karan Singh Maravi and Chhot Singh Dhurve, all from Diwari village. Jeet Singh of Pipariya village was also convicted.
A villager who practices a traditional indigenous religion and was not invited to the April 2024 party disrupted it and threatened to attack the Christians there. The party host called the police about that villager.
But when police responded, they arrested the seven Christians.
Morning Star says, “Theirs [is] the second case … of Christians convicted under Madhya Pradesh’s anti-conversion law.”
World Watch
India is No. 12 on Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List of the 50 places most difficult to be a Christian.
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