BJP says it will probe conversion of Bihar family to Christianity

The Bharatiya Janata Party has said it will investigate reports of conversion of five members of a family belonging to an extremely backward caste into Christianity at a village in Bhagalpur's Kahalgaon district. Despite the family's claim that they accepted Christianity willingly, the villagers said they suspect that they were lured by medical treatment.

The Bihar BJP said it will send a fact-finding team to Kharaiah village under Buddhuchak police station in Kahalgaon to look into reports of Basudev Mandal, Radhe Mandal, Lalita Devi, Sunita Devi and Pawo Devi converting to Christianity at a local church. All five of them, between the age group of 50-65 years, are said to be poor and suffer from various diseases.

Though the family rejected the allegations of allurement, others villagers claim they were assured that their medical expenses would be covered if they became Christians. The police, meanwhile, says they have not received any complaint of forced conversion. They also said conversion is common in that area since it borders the tribal belts of Jharkhand.

The report from Bihar came amidst a raging controversy over conversion which has rocked Parliament for two weeks now after Hindu groups in Agra were accused of holding a conversion event to convert Muslims into Hinduism. The opposition parties on Thursday demanded a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is expected to address the Rajya Sabha on the issue.