A doctor working in India has been removed from a government programme to combat the spread of Covid-19, after she told her patients to pray to Jesus if they get infected.
In a video circulating on social media, Dr. Sandhya Tiwari can be seen arguing with a man who is accusing her of forced conversion.
The man asks her: "Why are you telling people that they will recover by praying to Jesus? Why are you not saying that people should pray according to their own religion?"
She replies: "What is wrong with telling them that God heals? I did not tell anybody to convert or force anybody to pray to Jesus, I am being a Christian, I told them that Jesus heals."
As part of the government's "Kill Corona" programme, Dr Tiwari visited families in their homes in the area of Bajna distributing diet charts with handwritten prayers of salvation and leaflets with recommended Christian websites.
The prayer of salvation reads: "Lord Jesus we believe in you today. We accept all our sins, mistakes which we did knowingly or unknowingly. Wash away our sins with your holy blood. Come to life in our hearts, we accept you as our Saviour, fill us with the Holy Spirit, asking in the name of the Lord Jesus in the mighty name, Amen."
@VivekBJaiswal
According to International Christian Concern (ICC), a local man filed a criminal case against her and officials have confiscated her mobile phone and leaflets.
"This is the state of religious freedom in our state, we can be booked for a conversation that we might have with people of other faiths. In most cases, the facts are twisted to suit to an agenda and sadly the state machinery is handy to victimize the minorities," a local Christian told ICC.
The state of Madhya Pradesh has recently revised and reinforced an anti-conversion law, which allows people to file a criminal case against Christians who they feel are forcing them to convert. However, this law is often used to make false claims against Christians to justify assault and to intimidate believers.
India currently ranks 10th on Open Doors' list of countries where Christians are most persecuted.