In a bizarre incident, thirty carol singers and two priests from the Saint Ephrem's Theological College in Satna in eastern Madhya Pradesh were detained by police on charges of forced religious conversion. A vehicle they were travelling in was set on fire allegedly by Bajrang Dal activists.
Members of Christian community were conducting a routine carol programme on Thursday when activists of Bajrang Dal objected to their religious activity and complained to police that they were involved in forced conversion. Police detained 42 people late in the night and kept thirty of them in the station.
Sub-divisional magistrate of Satna Balbir Raman said that there were complaints of forced religious conversions against some people and that they were investigating the case. Eye witnesses said a group of Bajrang Dal activists set on fire the belongings of one of the seminarians.
Police, however, refused to comment on the incident saying that matter is being investigated. According to sources, a local resident at Bhumkahar, Dharmedra Dohar had complained to the police that some people were trying to convert him during a function on a government school premises in the village.
In April 2016, police had entered a church in Satna and stopped a wedding ceremony following a complaint by the Bajrang Dal that the bride and the groom had been unlawfully converted to Christianity.
Saint Ephrem's Theological College has been conducting carol singing programmes ever since it was established in 1992. The college is a part of Syro-Malabar Church in northern India. It was established primarily to train priests for the mission dioceses and religious functions. The college is managed by the Syro-Malabar Major Archi-episcopal Synod headed by Major Archbishop, Cardinal George Alencherry. It imparts degrees in Bachelor of Theology.
