India: Prayer Team Beaten Mercilessly — Then Arrested
Two Christians in Chhattisgarh forced to beat fellow believer unconscious under threat of death.
NEW DELHI (Compass Direct News) — The Christian community of Chhattisgarh state is rattled after a gruesome mob attack and torture in Surguja district.
At midnight on Oct. 3 in Dumarbhavna village, 110 kilometers (68 miles) from Premnagar, three jeeps full of Hindu nationalists broke open the door of a house where a three-day prayer meeting was taking place and attacked participants as they slept – ultimately forcing two Christians to beat one of their own prayer partners unconscious under threat of death.
The mob from the Hindu extremist Dharma Sena (Religious Army) beat the participants in the prayer meeting, including women, and dragged three of them from the house of Parmeshwar Beik, dumping them into the jeeps.
“We thought that they were taken to the police station, but instead they were taken to a secluded place where they were beaten all night,†Yahoshu Kujur, pastor of Blessing Church of God, told Compass.
Muneshwar Ekka and Beik were beaten first, and then the Hindu nationalists ordered them to beat the third captured Christian, Ravi Devangan.
“They threatened to kill us if we did not beat Ravi,†Beik told Pastor Kujur. “We were so scared and left with no option, so we beat Ravi until he dropped unconscious.â€
After failing to find the three Christians at the local police station the next morning, the pastor found them at the Srinagar Government Hospital, where Devangan was admitted with internal injuries and injuries to his chest, legs and other parts of the body.
“Ravi, who is a driver by profession, was just visiting Parmeshwar from Mehagai village,†Pastor Kujur said. “He was the worst hit, at home and outside during the attack.â€
He added that Devangan’s wife witnessed the attack on the house.
Police Inaction
Pastor Kujur told Compass that police admitted all three kidnapped Christians to the Srinagar Government Hospital with Devangan in serious condition and the other two in shock.
Beik’s wife also sustained internal injuries during the attack, Pastor Kujur said.
“Mr. Ashok Sahu and four other local Christian leaders went on the morning of Oct. 4 and reported the matter at the police station, but so far no action has been taken,†the pastor said.
Police reportedly deceived local Christians into believing that no complaint would be filed against the prayer team members for “forced conversion†if they would agree not to file any complaints against the Hindu nationalists.
“They told us that they would set the three free if we did that,†Pastor Kujur told Compass.
Instead police registered a case of “forced conversion†against the three Christians under sections 3 and 4 of the Chhattisgarh Dharma Swantantraya Adhiniyam (Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Bill).
If convicted, the Christians could be sentenced up to a year in prison and/or pay a fine of up to 5,000 rupees (US$100). They appeared in Surajpur local court on Oct. 6. A fourth Christian, Fakir Chand Toppo, was also falsely implicated, Pastor Kujur said.
At press time all four Christians were in Surajpur jail, though attempts to secure bail for them continued.
Political Influence
Pastor Kujur said police officers who are friends of his informed him that police were forced to prosecute the Christians on “orders from above.â€
Internal police sources told him, he added, that police in the state were working against Christians under Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pressure that has the support of the Chief Minister Raman Singh.
Christians from Surajpur have received news from sources who wish to remain anonymous that, emboldened by the BJP government that rules the state, Hindu nationalists have announced a cash award of 100,000 rupees (US$2,092) to anyone who murders a Christian preacher.
In Premnagar, also in Surguja district, Hindu extremist mobs have mounted similar attacks, Pastor Kujur said. He told Compass that in 2004 a Christian convention was attacked during which a mob surrounded the venue and shouted anti-Christian slogans. Police intervention averted casualties.
In another incident in 2005, Hindu extremists incited villagers of Premnagar to attack local Christians, reportedly wounding many.
The Dharma Sena was relatively unknown until nearly three years ago, emerging suddenly in the central Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Attacking Christians throughout the two states, the Hindus extremist group is reportedly backed heavily by the BJP, with BJP leaders pressuring police officials not to register any First Information Reports against it.
It is widely believed that the Dharma Sena is nothing more than the Hindu extremist youth group Bajrang Dal in another form.
Copyright © 2008 Compass Direct News