22 Christian women charged with 'forced' conversion days before anti-conversion law took effect in Indian state
Twenty-two Christian women are facing possible criminal charges after police in Maharashtra, India, accused them of trying to convert an 18-year-old student just days before a stringent new anti-conversion law took effect in that state.
One of the women, identified as 46-year-old Satyavati Balkrishna Kunche of Ulhasnagar in Thane district, allegedly offered the student copies of religious texts, including the Bible, in Wakadpada village located in the Mokhada subdistrict of Palghar district, and purportedly told him the books could cure illnesses and protect against disease, accusations which are unfounded, UCA News reports.
The student declined the books and alerted villagers. Some residents, including Milind Jole, alleged Kunche also made remarks against Hindu deities and religious practices.
Police named Kunche and another local resident, Kusum Shivram Kambdi, as main suspects they're investigating under penal code provisions for hurting religious feelings. The case was filed on Aug. 25.
No arrests have been made, and police released the 22 women, many of whom are from the southern city of Hyderabad, pending further investigation.
The case has raised concerns among Christians because it occurred just days before the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026, took effect in the state on Aug. 28.
Bishop Emeritus Mar Thomas Elavanal of Kalyan diocese was quoted as saying that the timing of the case was concerning. He said the Catholic Church doesn't endorse forced conversion, and that citizens have a constitutional right to practice and spread whatever faith they choose.
Joseph Dias, founder of the Catholic Secular Forum, an advocacy group for Christian civil rights, called the case deeply worrying and questioned the need for a new law given Maharashtra’s existing criminal statutes covering forced conversion.
Thirteen Indian states, most run by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, now have some version of a law restricting religious conversion, and Maharashtra is one of them.
Christian groups have taken the constitutionality of these laws to the Supreme Court, saying they open the door to harassment of religious minorities.
Christians make up about 0.96%, or just over 1 million, of Maharashtra’s 129.5 million people.
Worried about being targeted, churches in Maharashtra, including roughly 4,000 in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, have reportedly begun asking worshippers to sign forms stating that nobody pressured them into attending.
The statute covers conversions carried out via marriage, fraud, coercion, inducement or undue influence, and those accused of being repeat offenders can face up to a decade in prison. It also requires anyone contemplating changing their religion to notify a district magistrate 60 days in advance or risk up to seven years in prison. Christians warned it could be misused to accuse them of disguising conversion drives as prayer meetings.
Pastor Sam Mathai of Vasai, in neighboring Palghar district, said churches in the Nalasopara, Bhayander, Palghar and Vasai-Virar areas had been attacked 11 times in six months in incidents carried out by Hindu nationalist groups entering unannounced.
Such laws date back to the 1980s in India, though enforcement has grown stricter as Modi’s party has gained ground politically in the past 12 years. Uttar Pradesh adopted its version in 2020, and legal aid groups there count about 200 cases still pending against Christians, with over 800 pastors and worshippers arrested or detained.
