Four Christians accused of witchcraft released
Nine months after their conviction, their case was overturned. Religious freedom of minorities continues to be threatened.
Kathmandu (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Four Nepali Christians were released nine months after they were convicted by the District Court in Salyan, in western Nepal.
Lali Pun, Bimkali Budha, Ruplal Pariyar and his wife Ganga were convicted in December 2016 on false charges of witchcraft and abuse against a mentally disabled woman. This month, their conviction was overturned. News of the release came on Tuesday.
In a statement, the Federation of National Christian, Nepal (FNCN) thanked the court for “setting free our innocent people”, and said it would continue to support the Christians and their families.
The case began in July 2016, when Bhisma Pariyar, father-in-law of Seti Pariyar, a mentally disabled woman, filed a complaint against them, which led to their arrest for ““witchcraft, forceful imprisonment and violence”.
However, the father-in-law himself had brought the woman to a local church for prayer in the hopes that she might be healed from “being possessed by demons”.
Witnesses reported that Pariyar left the church before the prayer service was over. She was later found shouting and self-harming in a nearby forest, and taken back to her home.
Nothing happened then, but more than a month later, a local businessman gave an account of the incident to local media and, on the basis of which, Bhisma Pariyar filed a complaint against the five, who were then arrested even though his daughter-in-law said she had not been harassed.
A case such as this, based on false charges, is indicative of a growing climate of intolerance towards religious minorities.
Recently, the Nepali Parliament adopted a new Criminal Code that punishes all religious conversions from Hinduism.
Last year, police arrested and prosecuted eight Protestants accused of proselytism among earthquake survivors. All eight were later acquitted.
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