Gujarat: A Hindu mother, who is separated from her husband changed the religion of her minor son to Christianity in 2013. FIR has been booked against her nearly after eight years under the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act for baptizing without seeking permission from District Collector.
On Wednesday Jan 24, the police took action on a petition filed in 2013 by Dharmendra Rathod of Anand who runs an organization called the Forum for Peace and Justice. He challenged that the woman has been separated from her husband and did not take permission from him for changing the religion of her son. According to Dharmendra Rathod, Anand district collector, RG Gohil ordered the police to register an FIR in this case.
Mr Rathod justifies his petition asserting that as the child’s parents are Hindu, so the consent of both mother and father is required and also permission from district magistrate. The father, who is also a Hindu from Uttar Pradesh, challenged the baptism in a letter to the Union Home Ministry in 2013. Since then, the inquiry was pending. The child’s parents said to be married in 2001 and divorced in 2008.