Five Christians detained after Hindu mob storms prayer gathering in India
Christian leaders say worshippers in Uttar Pradesh increasingly face mob attacks and arrest over conversion accusations
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Police in northern India detained five Christians after Hindu extremists stormed a Sunday prayer gathering, harassed worshippers and accused them of illegally converting people to Christianity.
The Aug. 23 attack occurred at a Christian gathering in Kathauli village in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj district, according to UCA News. Christians present said members of the mob forcibly entered the gathering, disrupted prayers and manhandled worshippers before calling police.
Some of those involved identified themselves as members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or VHP, its militant youth wing Bajrang Dal and its women’s organization Durga Vahini. The groups are part of a wider network of Hindu nationalist organizations that campaign against Christian missionary activity and religious conversion.
Instead of arresting members of the mob over the disruption, police detained five Christians after villagers filed a complaint accusing them of forcible religious conversion.
A district police officer confirmed that authorities had received a conversion complaint and detained several people, but said an investigation was continuing. Police did not provide details of evidence supporting the allegations.
The case reflects a pattern that Christian organizations say has made ordinary prayer meetings increasingly risky in Uttar Pradesh: Hindu extremist groups disrupt Christian gatherings with accusations of conversion, after which police take worshippers or pastors into custody.
Minakshi Singh, general secretary of the Uttar Pradesh-based charity Unity in Compassion, accused authorities of allowing Hindu mobs to act with impunity while prosecuting their alleged victims.
“The government and the police do not act against them,” Singh said. “They are being protected while the victims are being prosecuted.”
Uttar Pradesh, governed by Hindu monk Yogi Adityanath of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, has one of India’s stringent laws restricting religious conversion.
The state enacted its anti-conversion legislation in 2021 and has subsequently strengthened it. The law criminalizes conversion through force, fraud, coercion and other prohibited means, but Christian groups say it is increasingly weaponized to target pastors and worshippers even when no evidence of forced conversion exists.
Christian leaders say more than 500 Christians, including pastors, are currently imprisoned across Uttar Pradesh under provisions of the law.
Shibu Thomas, founder of the Christian organization Persecution Relief, said accusations alone should not justify breaking up religious gatherings or detaining worshippers.
“Every allegation must be investigated fairly and strictly according to law,” Thomas said, adding that Christians and pastors gathering peacefully for worship now live in fear.
Uttar Pradesh is India’s most populous state, with more than 200 million people. Christians account for less than 1% of its population, while Muslims make up close to 20%.
Christian organizations have increasingly identified the state as one of India’s major centers of anti-Christian persecution, alleging that Hindu extremist groups exploit conversion accusations to disrupt worship while facing little risk of prosecution themselves.
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