Foreign believers detained by police in Andhra Pradesh for preaching Christ

A group of foreign believers were detained by the police in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, on the dictates of radical Hindus, Christian persecution news agency, BosLife, has reported.

According to information obtained by BosLife, about 24 believers hailing from US, were allegedly witnessing Jesus Christ during a visit to Palamuru Basti, a slum in Baghlingampally, thereby enraging local Hindu radicals who began accusing them of attempting to convert Hindus to Christianity.

Acting on their complaint, the Chikkadpally police initially took the 25 foreigners, most of them women, into custody, but let them off after finding that they were innocent. However, a case under Section 298 (uttering words hurting religious sentiments) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against four locals, including two pastors, who were acting as local guides.

Chikkadpally police station Inspector V.N.V. Satyanarayana later explained that preaching of religion by a foreigner possessing a tourist visa was an offence. "Our inquiries revealed that these tourists had no such intention. Hence, we released them," he said.