Two Christian teachers arrested on conversion charges in Uttar Pradesh
The two are sisters and live in the village of Sirsanal. They were accused by another woman. India’s economic crisis and the upcoming elections in 2024 are polarising the country along religious lines with minorities targeted hate speech.
Lucknow (AsiaNews) – Two teachers at a Christian school have been arrested for an alleged conversion attempt in Sambhal, a district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
The two women are sisters, Rose Mary and Jessa; they live in the village of Sirsanal and work at CDM High School. They were also accused of tearing up and burning images of Hindu deities.
Their accuser, Sunita, a Hindu woman married to a Christian man named William. She claims that the two teachers came to her house and tried to convert her, which she opposed.
On the basis of her testimony, the Sambhal district police took Rose Mary and Jessa into custody under Uttar Pradesh's anti-conversion law, which covers conversions "through marriage".
Some 20 months before India’s general elections amid rising inflation and unemployment, religious polarisation is becoming a way to distract people, local sources told AsiaNews.
Already in the elections for the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh held earlier this year, hate speech directly targeted minorities, putting their lives and property at risk.
Right-wing extremists have incited, promoted, and justified hatred based on religious and caste intolerance, targeting in particular Christian Dalits.
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25/11/2021 15:08
12/01/2021 16:35
