With numerous cases of hate crimes by Hindu right-wing groups surfacing ahead of Christmas in different parts of the country, another shocking incident has come to light in Jabalpur, where a local functionary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seen harassing and physically assaulting a visually impaired woman on Monday over allegations of religious conversion.
The incident took place at a church located behind Hawabagh Women’s College. A video of the incident has since gone viral on social media.
According to reports, members of several Hindu right-wing organisations, accompanied by BJP district vice-president Anju Bhargava, entered the church premises alleging that visually impaired children were being coerced into religious conversion. These allegations led to a confrontation inside the church.
The viral footage shows Bhargava confronting a visually impaired woman seated inside the church. At one point, Bhargava is seen holding the woman’s face harshly and engaging in a heated exchange. The woman responds by grabbing Bhargava’s arm and repeatedly asking her not to touch her and to speak without physical contact. As tempers flare, others present at the scene intervene, following which police arrive and defuse the situation.
A policeman is also seen in the video standing nearby while the incident unfolds.
According to police officials, the gathering involved visually impaired students who had been invited for a meal as part of a Christmas-related charitable outreach organised by members of the Christian community. The students told officials that they had been brought from a government-run hostel for lunch and prayers and denied any attempt at religious conversion.
Police have also denied any forced conversion angle in the incident. After the commotion, the students were sent back to the hostel.
However, Hindu right-wing organisations have lodged a complaint questioning how students from a government hostel were taken to a religious site without prior intimation to the authorities. They have also alleged that the prayers conducted at the venue were exclusively Christian in nature and claimed that non-vegetarian food was served.
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