HUBBALLI (KARNATAKA): Fifteen people, including a few pastors and a history-sheeter, were arrested in Karnataka's Hubballi as tension prevailed over alleged religious conversion, police said.
A large number of people from the Shikkaligar community along with members of pro-Hindu outfits gathered at the Old Hubballi police station on Tuesday night demanding action against Christian missionaries who were allegedly involved in converting people.
According to police, the incident came to light following a quarrel between a couple. The husband alleged that his wife is forcing him to convert to Christianity and refusing to live with him.
When he couldn't handle the pressure from his wife, he had brought the matter to the notice of community leaders, they said.
The members of Shikkaligar community held a protest at the police station demanding conversion bids to be stopped.
Complainant Sampath told reporters that the pastors had come to his in-laws' house and asked them to attend prayers. He also charged that the missionaries have been targeting his community to convert them into Christians.
Some other community members alleged that the missionaries are taking the help of a local history-sheeter to force people to leave Hinduism and get converted to Christianity.
The police have filed a complaint against the rowdy and 14 others, including the pastors, in connection with forcible religious conversions and taken up the matter for investigation.
A Hindu outfit leader, who joined the protest, said the Shikkaligars are a marginalised and economically weak community.
