Despite lack of evidence, the Indian Christian couple convicted of forced conversion have won bail while they appealed, sources said.
Rev. Jose Pappachen, 58, and his wife Sheeha Pappachen, 57, were released on February 19 after a session court in Ambedkar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh on January 22, and sentenced a fine of Rs 25,000 (USD 287) each under the state’s strict anti-relative laws. The Lucknow bench at Allahabad High Court gave bail to the pastor on February 6th and granted bail to his wife on February 5th.
Pastor Pappachen said all allegations against them were being manufactured. He and his wife survived at Rs 10,000 (USD 115) per month, regardless of the church or denomination.
“After paying the rent of Rs 4,000 each month, we only had Rs 6,000 left to survive that month. Can we afford to organize a community lunch or pay people?” Pastor Pappachen told Morning Star News.
Police arrested the couple under two statutes after Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party District Minister Chandrika Prasad filed a written complaint with Jalalpur Police Station in Ambedkar Nagar district on January 24, 2023. Activities.
However, on October 8, 2023, the court ordered the removal of the charges from the first information report (FIR) under the SC/ST Act.
Prasad claimed that local residents informed him that the Christian couple had been fascinated with members of the Dalit community to convert to Christianity over the past three months and demanded strict action against them.
The couple was arrested from their home in Shapur Filozipur village in Jalalpur Block on January 25th, 2023. Police reports said the couple visited a woman’s home called Vihra every week, where they gathered locals to hold a Bible study session, Pastor Pappachen said. He denied the allegation.
“The woman they allegedly conducted a Bible study allegedly testified in court that she didn’t even know about us,” Pastor Pappachen told Morningstar News.
Kerala resident Papachen and his wife had served in Bihar for nearly a decade before moving to Shapur Filojpur in September 2022 at the request of the pastor who lacked time to lead his congregation.
“He asked us to come to this village and strengthen his congregation here,” Pastor Papachen said.
Upon arrival, the couple discovered that between 20 and 25 members of the congregation belonged to a sector that was survived by theft and robbery.
“They hadn’t repaired their ways, so we began teaching them basic truths from the Bible about living life,” Papachen said. “These people are not my congregation. They are all already in churches, we are not preaching to one person, and we have not added one person to an already established church. We were in the work of “repairing and fixing” the people that were given to us. ”
Court records show that one of the 11 prosecutor’s witnesses identified solely as Rosini told police that the couple would celebrate the birth of Christ in their village and organize a community lunch. She also said that the couple was given to a calendar where she had a photo of Jesus and that she had surrendered the calendar to the police. Another prosecutor’s witness was identified as Bagmani only and also known as Munni, and said the couple visited her home and prayed and taught “good things.”
In contrast, the prosecutor’s witness said the couple said they had given the Bible, asked their families to bribe, worshipped Jesus, and gave them the Bible. She claimed that the couple wanted to use their illiteracy to invite them to Christianity.
Pastor Pappachen denied the allegations and as they were illiterate, “Why does anyone give them a book, let alone someone read the Bible?”
There was no clear evidence of forced conversion, but the lower court denied the initial bail plea and the couple suffered in prison for eight months.
Pastor Pappachen was admitted to the men’s section of the prison while his wife was detained on the women’s wings and was allowed to meet only once a week.
The couple faced extreme difficulties, he said. In addition to being a diabetic, Papachen suffered from prostration problems and had to be hospitalized for three months while in prison. He faced difficulty breathing, and severe knee pain prevented him from walking.
“I felt I was very weak,” he said.
The pastor said prisoners and police officers verbally harassed him in a “business that transforms people,” and 50 prisoners in his cells treated him with prejudice and lightly empty.
“Even prisoners arrested for serious crimes like rape and murder will warn others to maintain their distance from me, and insist that anyone sitting by me can convert within a minute,” Pastor Pappachen said.
The police asked some questions about his grandfather and great grandfather, and tried to prove that his ancestors were Hindu and later converted. They asked him why Jesus was crucified on the cross – what was his crime? – And whether Christians cremated or buried their dead.
“I didn’t say anything because I knew they were looking for an excuse to lightly corn Jesus and my faith,” he said.
Fed up with their questions, one day Pastor Pappachen told the police: “I was born in a Christian home and grew up as a Christian. Even if you hang me, I will not deny Christ.”
From then on, the officer declared that everyone in the prison should call him “Ram Durari.”
“In addition to my physical illness, the mental trauma that police officers and prisoners were inflicting me on was causing me severe depression. I constantly sit and cry,” Pastor Pappachen told Morning Star News.
The relentless harassment eventually chases him, asking the police officers to shoot him and “report him as a murder of a encounter.”
During this time, the district court refused to release the couple’s bail, and the couple’s lawyers sued the High Court for bail.
“We felt we were going to die there corruption, because everyone who came before and after us was out on bail,” the pastor said.
He decided to fast and pray, and only ate once a day.
“The Lord pointed out many of my shortcomings: I repented of my sins and was released on bail 30 days after my fast,” he said.
During the trial, they were convicted on January 22nd and attended around 30 court hearings before being remanded.
“We were mentally prepared to be for the Lord, even if we were convicted,” Papachen said, adding that he had witnessed a dramatic difference in his treatment in prison.
“The people in prison treated us very well,” he said. “The police had a ‘transformation of the mind’, but they confessed that we were innocent people who were mistakenly framed. ”
The couple didn’t expect to get bail that quickly.
“It was nothing but a miracle that we were released on bail immediately,” Pastor Pappachen said. “I am very grateful to all those who prayed for us and to all those who stood with us.”
The couple has not been told that the High Court could summon further questions that could be held within the next 18 months.
According to religious rights advocates, since Narendra Modi came to power in May 2014, the Indian government’s hostile tone of non-Hindus has encouraged Hindu extremists and others to attack Christians.
India ranked 11th on the 2025 World Watchlist for Open Doors, the Christian aid organization that is the hardest to become a Christian. The country was 31 years old in 2013, but its position deteriorated after Modi came to power.
