Five-year prison sentence for Christian couple in India
A Christian couple has been sentenced to five years in prison for trying to convert Hindus to Christianity.
Christians are being severely persecuted all over the world, especially in Muslim-majority countries. This persecution is not only directed against Christians by extremist Islamists, but Hindu Christians are no exception to this rule.
According to reports published by the Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a Christian couple in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh have been sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of 25,000 rupees for attempting to convert Hindus to Christianity under the state's anti-conversion law.
Jose and Shija Papachan are the names of the Christian couple who were arrested in January 2023. Chandrika Prasadapadhai, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, accused them of planning to encourage vulnerable members of society to convert from Hinduism to Christianity.
The CSW organization also said in this regard: "The couple say their goal was to provide education and awareness and were detained for 8 months before trial."
CSW founder Mervyn Thomas released a statement about the conviction, saying: "CSW is deeply concerned by the ways in which Christians in India are systematically persecuted. This couple has been targeted by discriminatory laws simply for exercising their fundamental rights and adhering to their religious beliefs. CSW calls on the Indian authorities to examine this matter objectively and not be swayed by extremist religious rhetoric that is causing divisions in Indian society."
