BAREILLY: A 43-year-old pastor was arrested and sent to jail on Monday for allegedly "enticing" about 100 people in Rampur district of UP to “convert to Christianity” a day earlier on Christmas. The incident was reported from Sohna village under Patwai police limits where pastor Paulus Masih, a resident of Rampur city, had held a mass in an open ground.
In a video which surfaced soon after, Masih could be seen addressing a mass gathering in the village and purportedly telling people “about the benefits of being a Christian.”
While preaching from the Bible, he could also be heard saying in Hindi: “The motive of our prayer is not to hurt the sentiments of anyone but to worship our lord with utmost honesty.”
ASP (Rampur) Sansaar Singh told TOI: “A case has been registered under sections 3 and 5 of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, against pastor Masih on the complaint of Rajeev Yadav, a right-wing activist. The pastor has been sent to jail. No prior permission was taken to hold the event.”
Rajeev Yadav, the complainant, alleged, “The pastor conducts meetings in the village every Sunday and shares views with the locals. He is said to have converted many villagers and police will find out the truth after further investigation.”
A local villager, who was present at the religious mass in Sohna, said, “The pastor was telling us good things about his religion. He was also talking about respect in the society and free education. Police may now come to our village. We are all scared. He did nothing wrong.”
No one from the local church came forward to speak about the matter.