Eleven Christian women evangelists from Hyderabad, along with seven other local Christian men and women, were arrested and arraigned on false charges of trying to forcefully convert school children in Bhagwanpur, Bihar. Police also impounded three cars used by the evangelists.

The 11 women had come from the southern states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and were doing personal evangelism in the villages.

In one of the villages, the gospel preachers entered a school and, with permission from the school’s principal, distributed gospel books and New Testaments to the children.

Just as they were exiting the school, Hindu fanatics stopped the women and began to question their motives. As tensions increased, the Hindus called in the police.

The police arrived and detained the 18 Christians. They took them to the police station and recorded their statements. Having found nothing incriminating in their activities, the police prepared to release them.

However, the local member of the legislative assembly (MLA) threatened the police officers that they would hold a massive protest and shut down the town if the 11 women from Hyderabad were released.

The MLA also called the media and gave false information that the 11 women had entered the school without permission and tried to secretly convert the children. Members of the media published this story on social media and in newspapers without interviewing the women.

Pastor Binoy, who was helping the 11 women, told an International Christian Concern (ICC) staffer that the principal had permitted the evangelists to distribute the Christian literature. However, the MLA threatened the principal and forced him to lodge a false complaint accusing the women of unlawfully converting the school children.

“The police also impounded our vehicles without any reason and have booked the case purely due to coercion of the Hindu fanatics,” the pastor said.

Incidents of arresting people without any proof and booking false cases of conversion are on the rise due to the pressure from Hindu nationalist groups across the country.