Christians arrested for proselytising face trial in Nepal

Nepal's first religious freedom case headed for a trial in court on Saturday, July 23.

The case involves eight Christians — one woman and seven men, including a pastor — who were arrested for distributing Bibles to students in Dolakha, a district badly hit by last year's earthquake.

On June 8, police first arrested seven people who were seen giving out Bibles to the students. Six days later, police also arrested Rev. Shakti Pakhrin for his alleged involvement in the activity, according to Christian Today.

Eventually, they were all released with bail.

Those arrested were part of Teach Nepal. They were invited by the school to offer counseling to students who were affected by the earthquake.

Barnabas Shrestha, chairman of Teach Nepal, said the charges regarding conversion were not true. Authorities allegedly forced the workers to confess to the crime, World Watch Monitor reported.

Under the 2015 constitution, it is illegal for anyone to share their faith with others and try to convince them to convert or change religions.

Anyone caught evangelizing can face up to five years in prison and can be imposed fines of up to 50,000 rupees.

The law states that converting one person from one religion to another religion is punishable by law.

It also states that "no person shall be entitled to convert another person from one religion to another and shall not take actions or behave in a way that would create disturbance in another's religion."

These provisions in the constitution are seen as a major hindrance to religious freedom in Nepal. People also fear it could be used to throw false accusations in the same way many Pakistanis fear the blasphemy law can be abused.

The threat to religious freedom in Nepal continues to intensify as government authorities announced earlier this month that faith-based schools and orphanages found to have religious materials will be closed down and will be imposed fines.