A court in Dindori district sentenced seven Christians — including pastors who served six different villages — on charges of "forced conversion," after a report that originated at a 2024 birthday party.
According to International Christian Concern (ICC), a court in Dindori district, Madhya Pradesh, sentenced seven Christians to 5 years of rigorous imprisonment each, plus an individual fine of roughly 100,000 rupees (about US$1,000). The conviction, announced on August 3, 2026, closed a case that had dragged on for more than two years.
The case began in April 2024, when a birthday party held at a private home was reported to authorities as a "forced conversion" gathering — a charge brought under the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, a 1968 state law that is among the oldest of India's so-called "freedom of religion" laws. Among the seven convicted are pastors who led congregations in six different villages in the region; according to the report, those congregations are now closed.
ICC's reporting indicates that appeals against the conviction have already been filed with higher courts, but are moving slowly. As of publication, the estimated bail amount totals around 600,000 rupees (about US$6,300) — a considerable sum for rural communities like the one affected by this case.
Madhya Pradesh was one of the first Indian states to pass a law of this kind, back in 1968 — today, more than ten states have similar legislation (see the full picture in India in Data and Maps). Despite the name, these laws don't protect freedom of faith: they restrict religious conversion, typically requiring advance notice to authorities and criminalizing any conversion seen as the result of "inducement" — a term broad enough to turn a conversation about faith at a family gathering into evidence of a crime.
In practice, this means private, informal gatherings — like the birthday party that triggered this case — can become the starting point of a criminal case, even without any real coercion involved. It's this mechanism, more than any single event, that drives much of the legal pressure Christian communities face across India's interior.
The original report does not identify the specific village where the case took place, but does name those convicted — this site keeps its practice of never publishing names, photos, or specific locations of workers, even when the original source includes them.
Pray for the seven convicted Christians and their families, for provision to cover the high cost of bail and legal defense, for a fair outcome as the appeals move through higher courts, and for the six congregations now closed — that the Lord would raise up others to keep caring for those communities.
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