A Madhya Pradesh court sentenced a visually-impaired couple among 13 people in January to six months’ rigorous imprisonment for trying to convert tribals to Christianity, The Indian Express reported on Thursday. They were arrested in January 2016.

Seven of the accused are daily wage labourers. Some villagers in Dhar district had accused them of converting them by offering incentives.

The Judicial Magistrate First Class court rejected the defence’s application that had cited the couple’s disability and the fact that they had a five-year-old child. The defence lawyer, Kamlesh Patidar, had moved an application under the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958. He said he would appeal against the verdict because they were discrepancies and procedures were violated during the investigation.

The judge said the accused could not be given the benefit of an irregularity during investigation.