Hindu extremists in central India on June 8 ransacked a church’s worship building, burned Bibles and assaulted every member, causing one to lose consciousness, Morning Star News reported.
In Chhattisgarh state’s Dhamtari District, the Hindu nationalists attacked during the independent Penial Prayer Fellowship’s worship service in Borsi village, said pastor Wakish Sahu, who leads the church along with his 57-year-old father, Mannohan Sahu.
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“They forcibly entered the church, disrupted the worship service and were carrying wooden rods and shouting slogans like ‘Jai Shri Ram’ [Hail lord Rama],” pastor Wakish Sahu told Morning Star News.
Threatening the Christians, the attackers told them to stop gathering for worship, he said. They broke all chairs, fans and musical instruments, then collected all Christian literature along with the Bibles and burned them.
Taking hold of pastor Mannohan Sahu, they beat him with wooden rods, slapped his face repeatedly, struck his head with wooden sticks and kicked him, Pastor Wakish Sahu said.
World Watch
Christian support organization Open Doors ranks India 11th on its 2025 World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most severe persecution. India stood at 31st place in 2013 but has steadily fallen in the rankings since Narendra Modi came to power as prime minister.
Religious rights advocates point to the hostile tone of the National Democratic Alliance government, led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which they say has emboldened Hindu extremists in India since Modi took power in May 2014.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written and originally published by Morning Star News.
