New Delhi, Jan. 26 -- A court in Uttar Pradesh sentenced a Christian couple to five years in jail under the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, marking the first conviction under any anti-conversion law in India.

The special court in Ambedkar Nagar convicted Kerala natives Jose Papachen and wife Sheeja imposing a fine of Rs 25,000 each over a complaint by a local BJP leader in 2023. In the complaint, the couple was accused of mass religious conversion among Dalit Hindus in Shahpur Firoz village of Eastern UP.

The special court's verdict came despite the Allahabad High Court's ruling over the case which stated that the case would not stand as the local BJP leader was not a competent person to file the complaint....