<p>A medic was arrested on charges of “Satanism” and “promoting same-sex relationships,” on Monday in Moscow, Russia amid its legal crackdown on LGBTQ rights in the name of protecting “traditional family values.”</p>
<p>For years, Moscow has fostered a hostile for LGBTQ individuals. This environment has worsened significantly since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The FSB, Russia’s powerful security agency, announced the arrest of a medical institution’s head in the central Ulyanovsk region, accusing him of “devil worship.”</p>
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<p>Such claims from state authorities are unusual, but as Russia becomes more socially conservative, the influence of the Orthodox Church has grown. “In the course of operational searches, it was established that this person, being a supporter of Satanism, promoted the idea of same-sex relations among subordinate employees as a way of initiating them into devil worshipping,” the FSB said, AFP reported.</p>
<p>The FSB stated that the man convinced people that joining the cult would bring financial success and career advancement. It also said a criminal case has been initiated on charges of coercion to engage in sexual acts and participation in an extremist organisation.</p>
<p>The FSB also released a video showing the man’s arrest in his apartment, where masked officers in camouflage uniforms led him away.</p>
<p>Russia outlawed what it calls the “international LGBT movement” in November of last year, and it ranks last — 48th — in a European ranking of laws and policies affecting LGBTQ people.</p>
<h3>UP Cleric Arrested For Forcing Woman To Convert On Pretext Of Exorcism</h3>
<p>An FIR was filed on Monday against a cleric in the Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh after a woman from Ballia accused him of forcing her to convert to Islam under the pretense of performing an exorcism to remove an evil spirit.</p>
<p>According to a report by TOI, the case was registered under sections 295A (deliberate insult to religious feelings), 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, and sections 3 and 5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act.</p>
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<p>Badesar police have launched a detailed investigation. The complainant alleged that cleric Shan Ahmed, who often visited her in-laws’ home and the ‘Mata Darbar’ in the Badesar area for exorcism rituals, claimed she was possessed by evil spirits. She further accused him of indecent behavior, abusing deities, and pressuring her to convert to Islam.</p>
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