Three Nepalese Christians have been arrested and jailed in Shahjahanpur on Jan. 11 for alleging evangelizing the local residents, which meant breaking the law of the Land. The accused were booked under Indian Penal Code Section 295A, a provision for deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.
On Jan. 7, Sunday after they had arrived in Shahjahanpur city, the trio, Indra Bahadur Tamad, Shukra Rai and Mekh Bahadur, was distributing Christian books, according to reports. They had rented a place at Town Hall, extending their stay.
During the mid-week, they got into a dispute with locals, Ravi Prakash Dikshit and Vimal Pandey, as they were approaching a crowd in Tareen Bahadurganj area. Dikshit and Pandey reported the matter to a local police station, where a FIR was filed. According to the police of Sadar Bazar police station, those who registered the complaint said the three Christians were using offensive words to portray Hindu gods.
"We have booked the three Nepalese residents. They are said to be connected with the World Council of Churches and promote Christianity," Inspector DC Sharma told TOI.
However, a local who stays in the same area where the three accused had rented a room said, "The three of them are innocent and were only sharing the teachings of the Bible. A group of Christians come here every year and do the same, but such an incident has never happened before. They never uttered a single word against any god or goddess."
On other hand, in-charge of local intelligence unit in Shahjahanpur, Rajendra Saluja said, in case the accused are sentenced for a crime, "the authorities are bound to inform the Nepal high commission. So far, we don't have any credible evidence against them. Police have only found some religious text from their possession."
