UP Court sentences Malayali Christian couple to 5-year jail for forced religious conversions
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A special court in Uttar Pradesh’s Ambedkar Nagar district sentenced a Keralite Christian couple, Jose Pappachan and his wife Sheeja Pappachan, to five years in jail on Thursday for allegedly attempting to lure people into converting to Christianity.
The court, presided over by Additional District Judge Ram Bilash Singh, also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 each on the couple.
The case against the couple was registered in January 2023, following a complaint from Chandrika Prasad, who accused them of trying to influence poor families in the Dalit settlement of Shahpur Firoz to convert to Christianity. The couple was arrested after the complaint was filed.
According to Prasad, the couple had gathered several people from the Dalit community for mass conversion on December 25, 2022. Based on accounts from witnesses, the couple was convicted under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, which criminalises conversions through marriage, deceit, coercion, or enticement.
The law also mandates that anyone wishing to convert must inform the government at least one month in advance.