ON MARCH 8, THE MADHYA PRADESH CHIEF MINISTER, at an event organised to mark International Women’s Day, announced that the Government of Madhya Pradesh would make a provision for death penalty to those involved in the religious conversions of women, along the lines of punishment for rape of minor girls.
Religious conversion has been a matter of debate in India for a long time. Many states in India already have legislations to regulate religious conversions in their states. Madhya Pradesh is one of the states with existing laws criminalising the forceful religious conversion of girls in the state.
The new proposal, however, escalates the punishment to the most extreme form, i.e., capital punishment for forced conversion, particularly of women and girls. The government proposed an amendment to The Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2021 (‘MPFRA’), to include provisions prescribing the death penalty.
Constitutionality of anti-conversion laws remains in limbo
The Madhya Pradesh government’s move to introduce the death penalty for forceful conversion violates the fundamental right to freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution under Article 25. Article 25 not only protects an individual’s beliefs but also includes acts of religious expression and propagation of religion to expand religious outreach. As per the provisions of the MPFRA, FIRs can also be filed by family members of the person converted. Resultantly, there are high chances of false litigations against the people involved in the religious outreach drives, even in cases of voluntary conversions, due to the family not supporting the conversion.
