Arrests of church people again in the news: Karnataka

Two separate incidents of arrests against church people were reported from the southern state of Karnataka this week.

In the first incident, one pastor and two church elders from the Pentecostal Mission in Mulaykatta, Shimoga district was arrested on false conversion charges July 19.

According to the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), Pastor Chinnadurai, Glory and Baby Kutty were arrested while praying for a family on Sunday evening.

Before the arrests, a Hindu radical group barged into "Shantamma's house and started threatening the pastor and the two ladies," GCIC reported. Later, the advocacy group informed the Shimoga Rural Police Station who ensured the safety of the Christians.

"While the officials at the station were investigating the matter, they were pressurized by the local radical groups who demanded that the three be booked for forceful conversion under Sections 295 A, 143 and 149," GCIC continued.

The pastor and the two ladies spent the night in jail. They were released on bail on July 20.

In the second incident, four evangelists from the city of Bangalore were held on similar cooked-up conversion charges.

The incident that was even aired by TV news channels and reported by local newspapers occurred on July 18 when the Christians were distributing tracts at a neighborhood.

The four were dragged out of a house where they were praying and were beaten and threatened for about an hour, GCIC said.

"After this, they were taken to the Gnanabharathi Police Station at 8:30 p.m. At 11:00 p.m. they were produced before a magistrate and at 12:30 p.m. they were sent to the Bangalore Central Jail," the Bangalore-based advocacy group narrated.

Karnataka is the only southern state ruled by Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). From recently there have been growing sporadic incidents of violence on minorities and communal clashes instigated by fringe groups