A lower court in a central Indian state has dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of a Catholic bishop and a nun, forcing them to move to the higher judiciary as they face charges of converting Hindu destitute children in an orphanage to Christianity.

Newsdesk (06/06/2023 20:10, Gaudium Press) The district and sessions court Katni in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh on June 2 dismissed the anticipatory bail application of Bishop Gerald Almeida of Jabalpur and Sister Liji Joseph of Congregation of Mother Carmel.

The bishop and the nun are associated with Asha Kiran (ray of hope) Children’s Care Institute, which houses 47 destitute children who lived on railway platforms.

The court order said anticipatory bail is granted only in exceptional circumstances.

Anticipatory bail “has to be granted only when the court is convinced that exceptional circumstances exist to resort to that extraordinary remedy,” the order said.

Diocesan Father Thankachan Jose said on June 5 that they are moving the state’s top court.

“We are in the process of filing an appeal against the order before the Jabalpur bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court,” he said.

This is the second case registered against 77-year-old Almeida in little over two months.

Priyank Kanoongo, the chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, lodged the complaint against the bishop and the nun on May 30 after a surprise raid at the diocese-run orphanage at Katni railway junction.

Kanoongo and his team came to the orphanage on May 29, accusing the management of attempting to convert Hindu destitute children to Christianity, a charge denied vehemently by Church officials. Police under pressure from Kanoongo registered a criminal case against the management.

“We believe the bishop and the sister would get relief from the high court as it is a totally fake case,” Father Jose added.

“We have been taking care of destitute children since 2005 following an invitation from the Indian Railways. But, nobody ever made such a false allegation against us,” noted the priest.

The priest regretted that such a false complaint from a person holding an official position would not augur well for the country.

On March 22, a case of fraud was registered against the prelate in Dindori, a tribal-dominated district in Madhya Pradesh, ruled by the pro-Hindu party that has enacted a sweeping anti-conversion law.

The case was registered against the prelate after child rights protection panel officials made a vain attempt to trap the diocese-run school principal, a layman, in a case of sexually harassing girls in the school hostel.

The principal was arrested on March 7 and sent to jail. The parents and the eight girls, who were presented as victims of his sexual harassment, denied the allegations in court and instead sought action against the officials behind the false case. The principal was later given bail by the high court.

“When the sexual assault case failed, the bishop, the chairman of the diocesan education society, was accused of fraud and a case was registered against him,” a Church official told said.

“Though he had not committed any such crime, he now has to set aside time and money. This is a new form of harassing Christians in the state,” the Church official warned.

“We are trapped in false conversion cases.”

Child rights panels have been conducting surprise inspections on Christian schools, hostels and orphanages in Madhya Pradesh to register false cases of religious conversion. Madhya Pradesh is among 11 states in the country where a draconian anti-conversion law is in full force.

The anti-conversion law “has become an easy tool for right-wing Hindu groups and government officials like Kanoongo to accuse Christians of religious conversion,” Church leaders said.

“It seems the time has come for us to rethink our social and other charitable works,” said Daniel John, a Catholic leader based in the capital Bhopal “…if the government and its machinery target us deliberately, we need to think do we need to continue with such work at all?”.

• Raju Hasmukh with files from UCA News