The police said that the bride was a minor and her uncle had complained about it.
A group of Bajrang Dal activists allegedly barged into a church in the Satna district of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday to interrupt a wedding. They were captured on camera, allegedly heckling guests and vandalising the place inside the church premises.
Policemen present there allegedly did nothing to stop the violence because there was a complaint against the families for illegal conversion. Bajrang Dal is the youth wing of the RSS-affiliate Vishva Hindu Parishad which has been running a campaign against religious conversion of Hindus to other faiths while campaigning vigorously for re-conversion into Hinduism.
Some eyewitnesses of Wednesday's incident have alleged the police helped the attackers evacuate the church. The activists were reportedly angry over the religious conversion of the couple which they said was illegal. But, the police say the girl was a minor and they were merely acting on a complaint by the bride's uncle.
Sitaram Yadav, City Superintendent of Police, Satna said, "When we spoke to the bride we find out she was minor. We brought them to police station and on complaint from the bride's uncle have registered a case."
The police registered a case under the Child Marriage Prevention Act and also for hurting religious feelings against 10 people, including the pastor, the bride's father and the groom, who were arrested. They are now out on bail.
The bride's father said, "We were never Christains, we are Hindus from the Khushwaha community. My daughter had a wish to get married in the church because I was cured here when I had an illness. We have not converted and what the Bajrang Dal has done is wrong." The police have not acted on the family's allegations against the Bajrang Dal.
The Church has claimed Wednesday's incident was another attempt by the Bajrang Dal to target the community.
Earlier this month, a pastor and his pregnant wife were attacked and doused with petrol inside a church in Bastar but they managed to escape.