Dalit couple threatened and harassed by church authorities [ Madhya Pradesh , India ]

[ Reported as seen ]

In the Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh, a Dalit couple were initially forcefully converted to Christianity and  later are being harassed by the Church authorities. The Bishop behind the forceful conversion is Bishop Dr Ajai Lall.

The victim woman said that she and her family were also asked to attend Church and follow the Christian religion and its practices. When they failed to attend the Church activities, she and her family were threatened and the Church authorities demanded four times as much money as they had given earlier during the time of conversion.

“They initially converted us forcefully and gave us money Rs 1,20,000. They also asked us to attend the Church service and stop following the Hindu religion. We initially attended the Church sessions but later we could not. So they began threatening us that if we fail to follow the Christian religion, they’ll recover the amount they had offered earlier, with four times of interest”, the woman said in a video, that has surfaced on social media.

She further said that she has already returned Rs 90,000 and intends to pay the balance amount soon but the Church members- Thomas, Keviju, Flexen, Rinu, and Sajan were harassing her to pay four times Rs 1,20,000.

“They dipped me and my husband in some water tank together and put their hand on our heads. Then they asked me to get my other family members to the Church after conversion”, she lamented.

According to the woman, even after lodging a complaint the administrative authorities failed to take any action against the Bishop and his followers. The Legal Rights Observatory (LRO) while talking to OpIndia confirmed that Damoh Collector S Krishna Chaitanya, Superintendent of Police D R Tenivaar, and other administrative officers were making attempts to favor and save Bishop Ajai Lall and his followers from the case.

“District collectors follow Bishop Ajai Lall and used to work for one of his FCRA license-attained NGOs”, the LRO said.