ICC Note:

Police and Hindu radicals stormed a church in Central India and stopped a Christian wedding claiming that the bride had been forcefully converted to Christianity. According to the Times of India, the couple to be wed had converted to Christianity four years ago but had not registered their conversion with state authorities, something required by law in Madhya Pradesh. The couple, the pastors, and the couple’s family were arrested by the police. Hostility against Christians in India has grown in recent years as radical Hindu nationalism has increased throughout the country. Often police and other local authorities participate in the persecution of Christians by using false criminal accusations to arrest Christian leaders or turning a blind eye to crimes committed against Christians.  

4/28/2016 India (The Straits Times) – A group of hardline Hindu activists and police stormed a church in central India and stopped a wedding midway after accusing the pastor of forcefully converting the bride to Christianity, an official said on Thursday (April 28).

As the wedding got underway at the Church of God in India in Madhya Pradesh state, men belonging to the fringe Hindu outfit Bajrang Dal barged in accompanied by the police, who arrested ten people, a church spokesman said.

Right-wing Hindu groups accuse churches and missionaries of targeting tribal people and other poor groups with the aim of converting them to Christianity, claims denied by the clergy.

“They said it is a matter of forceful conversion and arrested the bride, the groom, their parents as well pastors of two churches who were present there,” Mr. Mariyosh Joseph, a spokesman for the church in Satna district told AFP.

“How can you storm into a religious place and stop a ceremony like this? You will never see such a thing happening at a temple or a mosque,” he said.

The area police superintendent said the wedding was stopped because the girl was a Hindu and not yet 18, the legal age for women to marry in India.

“The girl is a Hindu and she is 17. We acted on a complaint made by the bride’s uncle. The matter is under investigation,” Mr. Mithilesh Shukla told AFP.

It comes as India’s Christian minority has sounded the alarm over a recent rise in attacks on churches and members of the faith, fueling tensions over religious freedom in the diverse, secular country.

The Indian Express daily said the couple had converted to Christianity four years ago, but the district authorities were not informed – a crime under state laws.

The church insisted the couple were Christians and accused the police of “hiding behind excuses” to justify their conduct.

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