Police in northern India left two young boys alone when they arrested their parents, a pastor and his wife, on fabricated charges of “forced conversion”. The mother was later beaten in custody, according to sources.
The arrests took place on 27 July in Uttar Pradesh state, when Pastor Vinod Pal Singh, his wife Jyoti Devi, and three other Christians were taken into custody. The couple were released only on 21 August, several days after the others had secured bail.
“We were framed under a completely fabricated case,” Pastor Singh, 34, told Morning Star News.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), the group had allegedly tried to coerce a 23-year-old man named Abhishek into becoming a Christian. But Pastor Singh insists he had never even met him.
“It is a completely fabricated story presented by the Hindu extremists,” he said. “I have never met Abhishek or known any such person. The whole story about me trying to entice Abhishek and pressure him to convert to Christianity is fabricated.”
Police arrested Singh, his wife, and the Maurya family - Anantram and his sons Ramit and Shubhkaran - during a Sunday service. Two others, Sanjay Maurya and a man identified only as Patiram, escaped before officers arrived.
Pastor Singh’s two sons, aged four and seven, were left behind when their parents were taken away.
“We later learned in jail that the 4-year-old cried for his mother for several days after we were taken,” the pastor said.
Church members later arranged for the children’s maternal grandparents to care for them.
Although a district court granted bail on 11 August, administrative delays meant Singh and his wife remained in custody another 10 days.
“Pastor Vinod Pal is from Lakhimpur Kheri, which is a separate district from Sitapur, so securing a bond was very challenging,” explained Suresh Kumar, a friend who helped with the bail. “Government holidays, finding a guarantor, and document verification took a lot of time, causing the delay.”
Singh leads the Vishwa Vani (“Voice to the Universe”) Church in Sitapur, part of a church-planting movement founded in 1980. The congregation has gathered there for 15 years without serious trouble - until the day of the arrests.
On 27 July, as Pastor Singh led Sunday worship for some 80 congregants, about 25 members of the Hindu extremist Vishwa Hindu Parishad barged into the prayer hall around 12.30pm.
They filmed the service, ordered the congregation out, and began interrogating Singh, his wife, and the Mauryas.
“‘Where do you get the money from for such work?’ they asked, hitting me,” Singh recalled.
For two hours, they overturned furniture, smashed the keyboard and chairs, and damaged the pulpit.
“They recorded videos of the vandalised church, collected all the Bibles and literature, bundled them together and sent them to the police station,” Singh said. He added that both he and his wife were manhandled.
The extremists then invited reporters, who, Singh said, repeated their false narrative. “Nobody interviewed us or cross-checked the false story presented to them by the Hindu extremists,” he said.
When police arrived, they used the confiscated Bibles as supposed evidence of “forced conversion” and arrested the Christians. Singh’s motorbike was also seized.
Only later did he learn of the allegations. Abhishek claimed in his complaint that Maurya family members introduced him to Singh and his wife, who offered him money, housing, and marriage prospects if he converted. He further alleged that they gave him water over which they had “spoken spells”, claiming it would allow him to “become a Christian”.
He said more Christians joined in pressuring him, prompting him to call members of VHP and Bajrang Dal, who summoned the police.
Police records state that officers confiscated Bibles, bottles of “healing water and oil”, boxes of sweets, and musical instruments.
“Is it a crime to have musical instruments inside a church?” asked a Christian rights advocate who requested anonymity. “Is it a crime to have your own religious books - like a Bible - inside a church? How can these be confiscated and presented as ‘items used for conversion’?”
Pastor Singh and the others were held for three days before being transferred to Sitapur jail.
“My wife was assaulted inside the police station during interrogation by female police personnel,” Singh said. “They asked her how many associates we have, where we get our support from and how much, and how many pastors are in that area.”
Jyoti was left with internal injuries from the beating and, he said, she still has severe pain in her legs.
Inside jail, both faced harsh treatment.
“Guards initially treated us badly,” Singh explained. “It seems they had received instructions from higher officials that we were arrested in a forced conversion case, and that back-breaking work should be assigned to us.”
After a few days their situation improved, but Singh said his wife was deeply troubled by thoughts of their children.
“Then the Lord comforted and strengthened her and gave her courage,” he said. “She continued to cling to the Lord and shared God’s love with her fellow inmates.”
The couple were allowed brief meetings on Sundays. “Every night I prayed secretly,” Singh said. “While most of the inmates were cordial, some hurled curses at me, accusing me of doing the same things inside the jail that I was arrested for.”
The couple were released at around 9.00pm. on 21 August. Singh’s motorbike, however, is still in police custody, with officers demanding 18,000 rupees (£156) for its release. Since his release, police have visited his home three times to question him.
A former Hindu, Singh became a Christian in 2011 and has served as a pastor since 2016.
“I have been confronted many times in the past, but after peaceful discussions the matter would subside,” he said. “This is the first time that I was arrested based on the false testimony of someone I do not know.”
Even so, his faith has not wavered.
“Jesus has asked us to be ready for such situations, and I really think we should be prepared,” he said. “I truly believe that the authorities are appointed by the Lord, and He is allowing this in our lives for His glory. A time will come when the judge will dismiss all the false allegations against us. He is Jehovah-Jireh - He will provide for all our needs.”
Christian support organisation Open Doors lists India 11th on its 2025 World Watch List of countries where believers face the harshest persecution. In 2013, India ranked 31st, but its position has worsened steadily since Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014.
Religious rights advocates say the increasingly hostile rhetoric of the National Democratic Alliance government, led by Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, has emboldened extremist groups across India.
