Noida: Four persons, including a foreign national, were arrested Saturday for allegedly pressurising two families in Greater Noida for religious conversion. According to the police, the four suspects had allegedly been visiting the two families for the last six months and supporting them financially, and recently, had started pressuring them for conversion.

Pradeep Tripathi, station house officer Surajpur police station, said that the prime accused, Mu Cu Lee, 50, belongs to Seoul in South Korea and is allegedly involved in missionary activities in Greater Noida. “The woman had been visiting India for some years and getting people to convert after luring them with financial benefits. She is associated with some missionary organisation. She had already converted three – Seema, 25, a resident of Chapartala in Prayagraj and Sandhya, 24, Koraon in Prayagraj. She had also coaxed a man, Umesh Kumar, 30, who worked as Lee’s driver, for religious conversion,” he said. The three have are also accused in the case and have been arrested.

Tripathi said that while Lee lived in a high-rise society in Sector Beta 2 area, the three lived in a rented accommodation in Malakpur village in Surajpur. Harish Chander, deputy commissioner of police, Noida Central, said that Lee had allegedly identified two Indian families in Surajpur Kasba for this purpose. “She was providing rations and other assistance to the two families, since they were poor. She was also asking them to visit Church on Sundays,” he said.

Locals said that the four persons had allegedly reached the victims’ house at 11 am in a car on Saturday. They allegedly held two of the family members and started chanting some verses from religious scripture, the victims said. “The suspects also told the victims to remove idols of their religion from their houses. This led to a heated argument and some locals gathered at the spot,” the victims alleged to the police. A police team reached the spot after getting a call from a local. “When we questioned the victims, they admitted that the suspects were pressuring them for conversion. We then arrested the four suspects,” they said.

Police have registered a case against the four under Section 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code and also under Section 3/5(1) of newly enacted the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020. The four suspects were produced in court and sent to judicial custody.

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