ICC Note:
In late December, four Christians were convicted and sentenced to five years in prison under the charge of witchcraft in Nepal. According to reports, the basis for the accusations originates from when a mentally ill woman visited a church seeking help. The local Christians prayed over the woman for healing, which authorities in Nepal have decided is witchcraft. Anti-Christian sentiment is growing in Nepal, which is officially a secular state. Radical Hindu nationalists have started using the country’s laws to harass and persecuted Christians in Nepal. Despite this, Nepal is still home to one of the fastest growing Christian communities in the world. 
01/03/2017 Nepal (Mission Network News) – It’s not often in our modern world that people are criminally prosecuted under the charge of witchcraft. But it happened recently in Nepal, according to a report from World Watch Monitor. Five Christians in Nepal were charged with witchcraft and violence. Four were convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.
According to the article, the charge was based on an event that took place months ago when a woman with a mental illness visited the church, looking for help. She was prayed over, and left.
This comes just after another court case involving eight Christians was dropped. They were charged under Nepal’s new anti-proselytizing law.
Despite the fact that Nepal is a secular state, the status of religious freedom isn’t “cut and dry”. The anti-proselytizing law is the first clue. But, as we can see from this most recent story, when that law doesn’t apply, other ways can be found to persecute Christians.
Dyann Romeijn of Vision Beyond Borders says much of the tension has to do with a growing Hindu-nationalist sentiment, influenced by India. Even though it’s legal to be a Christian, and it’s legal even to leave another religion to become a Christian, it is frowned upon.
Romeijn says, “I think that’s what they’re trying to do is silence that Christian voice. [If] people can’t hear, then they have no opportunity to know the truth.”
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