Father Godwin, who serves under the Church of South India, was reportedly taken into custody by the Ratlam police a few days ago and is currently lodged in Ratlam jail.
Published Nov 07, 2025 | 8:34 AM ⚊ Updated Nov 07, 2025 | 8:34 AM
Pinarayi Vijayan. (X)
Synopsis: Acting upon reports that a Malayali priest from Kerala was detained in Madhya Pradesh on charges of religious conversion, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Mohan Yadav, seeking his intervention in the matter.
Acting upon reports that a Malayali priest from Kerala was detained in Madhya Pradesh on charges of religious conversion, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday, 7 November, wrote to his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Mohan Yadav, seeking his intervention in the matter.
In his letter, Vijayan said that Father Godwin has been engaged in several charitable activities in Madhya Pradesh.
“I have been informed that he has been involved in many charitable initiatives in the state. I request you to kindly look into the matter personally and ensure that Father Godwin is not subjected to any form of harassment and that there is no arbitrary action by officials,” the chief minister wrote.
Father Godwin, who serves under the Church of South India (CSI), was reportedly taken into custody by the Ratlam police a few days ago and is currently lodged in Ratlam jail.
The priest and his family, who have been living in Madhya Pradesh for over 25 years, are known for their missionary and community service activities, including running a tuition centre and a tailoring unit.
Fellow priests have claimed that no local villagers had filed complaints of conversion, though police maintain that a complaint was received. It’s said this is not the first such incident in the region.
In December 2021, Kalyanpura police had arrested Catholic priest Father Jam Singh Dindor, pastor Ansing Ninama, and others from Bicholi village under the state’s anti-conversion law.
On 25 July this year, two nuns from Kerala, along with Sukaman Mandavi, a tribal resident of Narayanpur, were arrested at Durg railway station in Chhattisgarh. The arrests followed a complaint filed by Bajrang Dal activists, who alleged that the three were forcibly taking young women, including a tribal person, to Agra for religious conversion.
The nuns — Sister Preethi Mary and Sister Vandana Francis — were granted bail by a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on 2 August.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil with inputs from Dileep V Kumar.)
