On July 18, the Mathew family celebrated the release of Sunita, a mother of three, from jail in Azamgarh district, Uttar Pradesh. She had been imprisoned for a month on charges of alleged "forced conversion."
Sunita was arrested along with her husband, Pastor Sanjay Kumar, also known as Sanjay Mathew, who remains in jail.
The couple was unexpectedly arrested on June 20 in Jahanaganj, where they had gathered for a weekly meeting. They had been holding meetings in this house for five years.
"We have never had trouble before," said Rahul Kumar, a church leader of Sanjay Kumar's church, in an inttreview with Christian Today. "The whole village knows pastor very well and they have never objected to his carrying the weekly prayer meeting in the designated house."
The meeting that was scheduled from 11 in the morning till 1 in the afternoon was disrupted by the police just 30 minutes after it commenced.
The police arrested the 42-year-old pastor and his wife, warning the others – about 12-13 people, to back off and not protest the couples arrest, unless they wanted to be arrested along with the duo, said Rahul Kumar.
"It was only later that we came to know that the non-Christian owner of the property we conducted prayer at was the village chief and his rival village chief was from the Hindu right-wing political party – the Bharatiya Janata Party," explained Rahul.
"To express his political rivalry, he informed the police alleging that forced religious conversion was taking place at the chief's premises."
Police took Sanjay and Sunita to the police station and kept them there until midnight without filing a formal complaint. A First Information Report (FIR) was only filed by the police nearing mid-night.
"We waited the entire day to have an official statement from the police about pastor and his wife's arrest. We did not know what they are planning on doing – release them or register an FIR," said Rahul Kumar, who was in and around the police station along with other faithful anxious at the sudden arrest.
A case was registered against the couple under FIR No. 317/24 for "gathering at one place" & under Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 famously referred to as "anti-conversion law".
The couple has three teenage children - two sons and one daughter.
Proper permissions
The President of Masihi Prathna Bhawan Seva Sansthan in Azamgarh, President of New Hope Raising Church Trust in village Dharampur Asalpur, District Azamgarh and Chairman of Jivan Jyoti Charitable Trust in village Renva District Azamgarh jointly appealed to the Allahabad High Court under a Writ petition 37103/2023 registered on 20 September 2023 alleging that their (Christian) religious prayers were being interfered by authorities and non-Christian groups and individuals.
The petitioners stated that such interference is "nothing but an injury to the fundamental rights of the members of the trust as per Article 25, 26, 27 and 28 of the Constitution of India." The petitioner society also stated that they "approached the District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police for redressal of his grievances but no action has been taken on it," read the order dated 8 December 2023.
The judgement that ruled in favor of the Christians stated – "Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, we find that holding of religious prayer is not violative of any law that has been shown to us. Under the Constitution every citizen has a right to practice and perform his faith and religious congregation that is, of course, subject to public order.
Accordingly, the writ petition stands disposed of with observation/ direction to the petitioners to approach the District Magistrate, Azamgarh by moving a fresh application/representation ventilating all their grievances. In case any such application is moved within two weeks' time, we hope and trust that the same shall be considered and decided as per law but certainly after taking necessary comments from the local police."
Pastor Kumar who was one of the petitioners was still arrested (20 June 2024) despite court orders, received in December 2023 said their lawyer Ronny Sukh, a practicing lawyer at the district court in Azamgarh.
"They had High Court order, yet the police still arrested them. Police said that your order has been passed for a particular place (church premises) and if they did it outside the jurisdiction of that boundary, they will be answerable to the police and the police will take action," said Lawyer Sukh to Christian Today.
"From the words of the honourable High Court that stated - Under the Constitution every citizen has a right to practice and perform his faith and religious congregation that is, of course, subject to public order' – this phrase is picked by the police and used in various cases of Azamgarh, like in the case of Pastor Sanjay and Sunita claiming that their prayer meeting would have led to public disorder," clarified Sukh.
The long wait
After the rejection of the bail plea in the Lower Court on 21 June, a fresh appeal was made in the District Court of Azamgarh for Sunita's bail.
The hearing scheduled for 8 July was extended to 11 July, and the bail was granted on 12 July. However, Sunita's release took another six days for all the required documentation and formalities.
Speaking to Christian Today, Nandu Nathanael, a pastor and friend of the Mathew family who visited the couple in the Azamgarh jail a few times said, "Jail is not a good place to be. They were worried about their children whom they had to suddenly leave unprepared."
The couple were kept separately in the men and the women sections of the jail.
"We had decided that someone from amongst us would visit the couple twice or thrice a week in jail, and by doing so Sanjay and Sunita would be called from their respective cells to meet the visitor and thus meet each other as well. One needs a lot of encouragement and support in such a times," said Nathanael.
Pastor Sanjay Kumar has also been granted bail on 19 July, but it will take another 5-6 days for all the documentation before he is released, informed Nathanael.
"Please continue to pray for the state of Uttar Pradesh, where two or more incidents are reported every Sunday as Christians gather for worship and 4-5 incidents are reported every week of prayer meetings being disrupted, Christians assaulted and arrests," said Nathanael requesting for prayer.
