Karnataka: Dalit family in Koppal reverts to Hinduism after accusing pastor of forcible conversion

Shankar, his wife Jambakka and other members of the family, who belong to the Budgajangam community and reside in Karatagi, reverted to Hinduism.

A Dalit family in Karnataka’s Koppal district has converted back to the Hindu religion days after they accused a local pastor of forcibly converting them to Christianity. Shankar, his wife Jambakka and other members of the family, who belong to the Budgajangam community and reside in Karatagi village, reverted to Hinduism under the aegis of Marulasideshwara Swamiji and the right-wing outfit Hindu Jagarana Vedike.

On December 9, Shankar accused pastor Satyanarayana alias Samuel, who runs the Grace Prayer Centre, of forcibly converting him and his family to Christianity, News9 reported earlier. “After I was baptised by the pastor, he asked us to follow the rituals of Christianity and warned us to not pray to Hindu deities. He also confiscated the photographs of Hindu deities from our home and threw them into a canal, where he later baptised other members of my family,” Shankar alleged.

“We were also told by the pastor that if we continued to pray to our deities, we would die and go to hell. He told me that if we returned to our religion and ignored him, he would kill me and that my children would be kidnapped and raped,” he added in his complaint. Shankar also accused the pastor’s wife, Shivamma Sara, of taking his children, when they were out to work, to the church and engaging them in church activities.

The pastor, his wife and his minor son were booked under Section 5 of the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Act, which prohibits forced religious conversions in the state, and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). In a separate case, the pastor’s minor son was booked under Sections 4,5 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act after another family accused him of raping a minor girl. While the pastor and his wife were sent to judicial custody, their minor son was sent to a remand home in Ballari.

Courtesy : News9 live

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