India: Christian man Arvind D’Souza stopped by police, despite committing no crime

Arvind D’Souza was stopped by the police “for reasons of public order,” even though he had committed no crime. Despite his innocence, the is still in prison, under “preventive detention.”

While the incident occurred on January 2 in the district of Amethi, in Uttar Pradesh, the story is just now getting traction in the press.

Officials in India arrested and detain an innocent Christian man Photo/Vectorportal via wikimedia commons

According to allegations levelled by local Hindu groups, D’Souza was “spreading the word of Christianity” among a group of village folk in Maulvikhurd village of Tiloi tehsil, reports the India Times.

D’Souza, who is still in prison under preventive detention, the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) told AsiaNews, ran afoul of a group of Hindu radicals in the village of Maulvikhurd.

The latter filed a complaint with police against the Christian man for “spreading Christianity” and “forced conversion of women and children through the gift of Bibles.”

Amethi SP Hira Lal said, “A resident of Jais in Amethi, D’Souza used to go to Maulvikhurd to spread the word about Christianity. He was not found using force to convert anyone. However, since this event could have led to law and order concerns, the police picked him up under section 151 CrPC, and the SDM put him in preventive detention of 14 days.”

“This is a serious violation of human rights,” said GCIC president Sajan George. It is part of “a trend that is spreading more and more in India.”

“In Madhya Pradesh, families, including small children, have been arrested for forced conversions under the state’s anti-Conversion law,” George explained.

Sadly, such legislation is being used “as a political tool to terrorize and persecute the Christian minority.”