A top court in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh has granted bail to 10 Christians who have been languishing in jail for nearly four months for allegedly inciting violence.
The Bilaspur High Court on April 19 released on bail the pastors and evangelists and directed them to cooperate with the police investigation.
Chhattisgarh is among several states that have reported increasing persecution of Christians.
Son Singh, a lawyer who argued the Christians’ case, confirmed to Matters India on April 20 the high court order. The court had earlier granted bail to three others arrested along with the ten.
The ten would be out of prison in a day or two after completing the legal formalities, the lawyer said.
“They were implicated in a false case in which they had practically no role,” Singh explained.
They faced serious criminal charges such as rioting, rioting armed with deadly weapon, voluntarily causing hurt to public servants on duty, criminal intimidation and assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty.
In case of conviction, they could get a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison.
The Christian leaders were arrested in the first week of January amid violent clashes between two groups of indigenous people in Narayanpur district.
Violence against Christian indigenous people flared up in Narayanpur and Kondagaon districts by the end of 2022 with several people wounded and more than 1,000 forced to leave their villages.
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