Delhi priest among 3 held in Gzb under conversion law

GHAZIABAD: A priest attached to a church in Delhi was among three persons arrested under UP's conversion law for allegedly persuading people to embrace Christianity.
The accused, police said, would hold congregations at a beauty parlour in Khoda colony.
The three persons who were arrested were identified as Ibrahim Thomas, who is attached to a church in Delhi's Mayur Vihar, his wife Reewa and Babita Thakur, a Delhi resident who has been running the parlour in Khoda for the past six months.
Police said they had come across a video that purportedly showed Thomas giving religious sermons to six women sitting on the floor.
They swung into action after a complaint was lodged by Khoda resident Sunita Arora, a former president of the BJP Mahila Morcha.
Arora told TOI she knew Babita for the past few months because her parlour was close to her house.
"On May 12, she sent a person to my house and called me to her parlour. When I reached there, I was shocked to see that a man dressed in white was giving out sermons to a few people. He told them to offer prayers to Jesus Christ and said it would end all their sorrows," Arora said.
The BJP functionary alleged that Thomas asked her to remove her locket and all idols from her house. "He started persuading me to embrace Christianity. Most of the women who were already there in the parlour were from humble backgrounds. I somehow went out of the parlour and promised to come another time. Once out, I called people and informed police about the forced conversion," she said.
Vivek Yadav, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (trans-Hindon), said Thomas was originally from Kerala, but was living in Delhi for the past few years. "Following a complaint by Sunita Arora, an FIR was registered under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, against the three. We are investigating whether the accused are associated with any group or not," he added.
On March 1, a pastor from Kerala and his wife were arrested from Ghaziabad after a Bajrang Dal functionary lodged a police complaint, accusing them of converting people to Christianity.
Santosh John (55), who is originally from Kerala, and his wife Jiji (50) live in the Kanawani area of Indirapuram. They are associated with a missionary organisation called United Christian Prayer for India, which is related to Operation Agape.