India: House Church Members Violently Attacked by Hindu Extremists
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Members of a house church congregation in India’s Uttarakhand state were violently attacked by a mob of around 150 Hindu extremists on July 14, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
Fifteen Christians were in the middle of a worship service at a house church in the Nawada area of Uttarakhand state when they were alerted that a large mob of suspected RSS [Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] activists were on their way.
“We locked the gate and stayed indoors, not making any noise,” the congregation’s leader Pastor Bhomi told MSN. “Soon we found the mob with women leading in the front banging on the gate trying to break open the lock.”
The Hindus said they had come to “talk,” Pastor Bhomi told MSN. “‘Why did you come as a mob of over 100?’ we questioned them, but they kept repeating that we must open the lock, and they would only talk to us.”
“As they banged and pushed the gate, in that struggle the lock was let loose by us, and at once the mob of around 150 rushed inside the premises like flood waters,” Pastor Bhomi said. “They went all around the house vandalizing every object in their sight, and some of them were carrying lathis [sticks]. They beat wherever on the body badly.”
The pastor’s wife, father-in-law, brother-in-law, and two other female members of the congregation were severely injured, he told MSN. “They received lathi blows in the stomach, neck, and hands,” Pastor Bhomi said. “As they continued beating us, some from among the mob snatched away our mobile phones, and laptop and damaged the musical instruments.”
Although a full police report has been filed, and officers said they are investigating, no concrete action has yet been taken, Pastor Bhomi said.
Ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party for nearly 10 years, India now ranks 11 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
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