BosNewsLife Asia Service with reporting by BosNewsLife Asia Correspondent Santosh Digal in India
NEW DELHI, INDIA (BosNewsLife)– The nephew of a pentecostal pastor in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu was still healing from his injuries Wednesday, April 25, nearly two weeks after suspected Hindu militants reportedly attacked him with a sword during a worship service.
Pastor Y S John of the 100-member Indian Pentecostal Church in the small township Dalmiya Puram said the troubles began April 12 during a prayer meeting he attended in the home of a church member.
John told investigators that a “local rowdy crowd” interrupted the gathering in the home of a Christian woman, July Dhanpaul in nearby Venkatachalapuram Village.
“At about seven o’clock in the evening, a local rowdy, came and disrupted the prayer meeting” of some 30 people, and asked them to stop their prayer meeting immediately,” explained advocacy group Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC).
NEPHEW ATTACKED
The Pastor’s nephew, 38-year-old John Britto, reportedly tried to intervene and calm down the crowd. “Instead of heeding to his request, the enraged rowdy took out his sword and attacked Mr. John Britto and almost cut off his left hand,” GCIC said.
“On learning about the tragic incident the GCIC’s co-ordinator of Trichi city, Pastor Dhanpaul Daniel, “rushed to the spot and got in touch with the family and immediately sent for an ambulance and made necessary arrangements for the hospitalization of Mr. Britto.”
The nephew was still undergoing treatment in the Government Hospital at Trichy, to which the village belongs.
“A complaint about the tragic attack has been lodged at the Dalmiya Puram Police Station, and the investigations are on.”
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the violence, but Christians have complained about growing pressure from Hindu militants in these and other areas of India, a heavily Hindu nation.
