MP: Bail refused to nine persons held in conversion case

A local court on Thursdayrejected bail applications of nine persons arrested under thenew stringent law in Madhya Pradesh after a woman alleged thatshe was forced to convert to Christianity by her parents.

Additional Sessions Judge Yatindra Kumar Gurudismissed the bail pleas of the accused including thecomplainant's parents.

''It does not seem appropriate to give the benefit ofbail to the accused looking at the facts and circumstancessubmitted to the court,'' the judge said in the order.

The accused said in their pleas that they belong toBackward Classes and police has framed them in a false case.

They were at Satprakashan Sanchar Kendra, a Christiancommunity centre, to celebrate Republic Day and there was nopriest present, so no conversion was possible at the venue,the accused claimed.

But the prosecution alleged that parents of the 25-year-oldHindu woman took her to the Centre on the pretext ofvisiting her maternal grandmother's place.

A prayer meeting was being held at the centre, locatednear the Bhanwarkuan police station, and the woman was forcedto convert to Christianity, the prosecution claimed.

After hearing the arguments, the judge rejected thebail applications.

Earlier this month, the BJP government in MadhyaPradesh promulgated the Freedom of Religion-2020 ordinance,which provides for 10 years in jail for fraudulent conversionin some cases.

Last week, a man was arrested in Barwani and anotherin Bhopal in separate cases under the new law.