US nationals detained for allegedly preaching Christianity in Assam

Two US citizens, John Matthew Bone and Michael James Flinchum, have been detained by the Assam Police for violating their visa conditions. The violation, involving religious preaching, took place on 2 February at the Baptist Christian Hospital in Tezpur, leading to their detention, an NDTV report said. Local residents had lodged a complaint, prompting authorities to take action, it was reported.

Both individuals were fined $500 each, and the district police have referred the case, filed at Kacharigaon police station, to the police headquarters. It is anticipated that the US nationals will face deportation, the report said citing informed sources.

On January 31, Bone and Flinchum attended the inauguration of the North Bank Baptist Christian Association office at the Baptist Mission Complex in Tezpur.

Madhurima Das, the Additional Superintendent of Police in Sonitpur, was reported to have said that the two US citizens participated in a religious meeting on 1 February at the Baptist Christian Mission Hospital, as reported by the news agency Press Trust of India. “The police detained them after getting information. We conducted a probe and found them involved in the religious gathering,” she explained.

In a similar incident in October 2022, seven German nationals and three Swedish nationals were apprehended from Assam’s Golaghat and Dibrugarh districts for allegedly violating visa norms through missionary activities. The police transported them to Guwahati and subsequently deported them.

MTNews Desk