After being secretly filmed, four Christians were reported to the police and arrested in early November near Kathmandu, charged with breaking Nepal’s anti-conversion laws.
It was alleged that the individuals, two of them Japanese nationals, had been ‘proselytising’ door-to-door, ‘targeting Dalits’ (the lowest level of the Hindu caste system).
The new law is so vague it means any public Christian activity is potentially illegal. If convicted, the two Nepalis arrested could face five years in prison and a 50,000 rupee (around £340) fine, while the Japanese Christians could potentially receive the same prison sentence or be deported.
