Mussoorie Church Pastor, wife booked for 'forced' conversions in Uttarakhand village

Uttarkashi, Dec 29: The pastor of a church in Mussoorie, his wife and four other people have been booked in connection with alleged unlawful conversions in a village in the Purola area in Uttarkashi, police said on Wednesday.

On Friday, people of the village had clashed with organisers of an event attended by Christian clerics at Devdhung in Uttarkashi district, accusing them of unlawful conversion. Right-wing Hindu outfits held a demonstration at the SDM's office, alleging that Christian missionaries were converting people from Nepal coming to Uttarkashi for work by offering them allurements, as reported by PTI.

The incident occurred two days prior to Christmas at Hope and Life Centre in the village, which is around 150 km from state capital Dehradun. The pastor belongs to Union Church, Mussoorie, and was leading prayers when the mob barged in and disrupted the celebrations, NDTV reported.

Cases were registered at the Purola police station against people associated with the missionary organisation called 'Asha Aur Jivan Kendra' as well as five villagers, Purola Station House Officer (SHO) Komal Singh Rawat had said earlier.

On Wednesday, Rawat said, "Pastor of Mussoorie's Union Church Lazarus Cornelius, his wife Pushpa Cornelius and four others have been booked in connection with the incident." The pastor had gone to the village in Purola area along with his team to allegedly convert people, he said.

An investigation has been ordered into the matter on a priority basis, the SHO said.

Earlier, a woman of Nepalese origin who is a key witness in the case, had told police in a statement that she was under pressure from Christian missionary to convert. They had offered to pay for her marriage besides giving her other gifts to tempt her to convert, she alleged. She had come under their pressure and accepted the invitation to the programme held on December 23, she said in her statement. They wanted to convert her, she added. The woman's statement was taken by the police at her home and may be recorded before the magistrate if needed, the DSP said.

Dozens of Nepalese families have been working in the apple orchards of Dhadoli, Sarla, Chalni, Karda and Chaptadi areas of the district for decades.