Pune police have registered a case against a British national for allegedly encouraging religious conversion while preaching at a church in the city, officials said. The complaint, filed at Khadak police station, alleges the foreign religious leader delivered sermons in Guruwar Peth and used them as a pretext to persuade people to convert. The case has been lodged under the newly implemented Maharashtra Religious Freedom Act and officials say this is believed to be the first instance of a case under the new law.
According to the complaint, the accused had been staying in Pune for a few days and was conducting public sermons at the church. Hindutva organisations — groups that promote Hindu nationalist ideology — complained that those sermons were being used to induce conversions. Police say they conducted a preliminary probe and subsequently registered the FIR at Khadak police station.
Investigators have found the accused entered India from Britain on a tourist visa. Indian visa rules bar foreign nationals on tourist visas from engaging in religious preaching, missionary activity or taking part in public religious events, the complaint states. The police team is examining visa documents and other records to determine whether the accused violated these regulations.
Cops are also probing the substance of the church events and whether any actual conversion attempts took place, officials said. A Khadak police team is scrutinising the complainants’ claims and related documents as the probe continues. The registration of a case under the new Maharashtra law gives the matter political and legal significance, authorities added.
With inputs from Ajinkya Patil.
Original Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/british-man-on-tourist-visa-charged-under-new-religious-conversion-law-in-pune-11896598#publisher=newsstand
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Publish Date: 2026-08-11 22:45:00
