Kaur claims the church gave Raju Rs 2 lakh for converting and assured him that they would take care of his children’s education and other needs. “But everything just got over after his death,” she alleges.

Residents, who do not want to be named, say they attacked the church following this. They say locals in the refugee colony live in tents and that making concrete structures is not allowed. “We are not allowed to make concrete roofs; how can the church do that?” local leader Radha Krishan Mahajan asks. “Besides, the church was also trying to encroach public land.”

Another resident says: “We do not want these people here. They will ruin more families.”

No one from the church has visited the area since the incident, locals say. Church representatives, however, deny any conversion took place in lieu of money.

TRILOKPURI

On September 14, some residents of block-13 in Trilokpuri put up an idol of Shiva and Hanuman on walls of the local church. For two days women of the neighbourhood prayed at this “open temple”. The makeshift temple was removed on the third day.

“We knew it would create a tussle between the church and locals over time. So we called the SHO and got the temple removed,” Father Peter Emmanuel of the church says.

And just a day after the idols were removed, some 15 people locals broke open the gate and entered the church lawn, says church caretaker Rajesh, present when the incident took place. Locals contend they are at no fault, for the lawn is built on public land.

... contd.