India: Christian Couple Released on Bail Amid Surge in Persecution

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Amid a surge in persecution against Christians in India, believers are rejoicing that a pastor and his wife were released on bail after 20 months in prison on false charges of forcibly converting Hindus to Christianity, Global Christian Relief (GCR) reports.

Residents of India’s Uttar Pradesh state, Pastor Ashok Yadav and his wife, Phoola Devi were arrested and charged under the state’s notoriously harsh anti-conversion law in April 2023, MSN reports. Police arrested them after Hindu nationalists disrupted a prayer meeting they were attending.

While 90 other Christians remain imprisoned in Uttar Pradesh, Pastor Ashok and Phoola were released on bail pending trial just before Christmas last month, MSN said. “They are very happy to be released and get home for Christmas,” a relative told MSN.

“The arrests reflect a broader pattern of religious persecution documented in a Dec. 31 memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, signed by over 400 Christians and church groups,” MSN noted in its report. “The document reveals that more than 110 clergy members have been arrested under anti-conversion laws, which are now enforced in 12 Indian states despite potential conflicts with constitutional religious freedoms.”

Confirming the dire situation facing Christians in India, the Open Doors international Christian advocacy group states in a 2024 website report: “More and more states are also implementing anti-conversion laws, creating an environment where any Christian who shares their faith can be accused of a crime, intimidated, harassed and even met with violence.”

Ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party since 2014, India ranks 11 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.

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