Displaying items by tag: 36 Christians arrested

A congregation of 100 Christians celebrating a Maundy Thursday service in Uttar Pradesh’s Fathepur District were threatened by a radical Hindu mob who surrounded the church and subsequently locked the doors. A First Information Report was lodged against 36 of the Christians on alleged forced conversion charges based on Uttar Pradesh’s anti-conversion laws after the mob’s leader, Himanshu Dikshit, complained that the church was working to convert Hindus to the Christian faith. Most of the congregation were freed from the locked church, but the 36 remained in jail until the wider Christian community raised their bail amount. One of the congregation said, ‘This is a perfect portrayal of Jesus’ suffering 2,000 years ago. We know Jesus endured, and we will.’