an angry mob attacked Christian converts in a campaign to "eradicate Christianity," investigators said.
The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) told BosNewsLife that the December 10 attack in the village of Bivsi Dabhadi was the second in as many months.
"The village head" wants "to eradicate Christianity from the village," ICC said. In the latest violence, four villagers, including the village head, reportedly tried to attack a convert, identified as Dhakya Laksya Bhavar.
"The attackers came with sticks, stones and sickles to beat the convert, but he managed to escape," a representative of the local Friend Missionary Prayer Band (FMPB) was quoted as saying by ICC. Although the convert "promptly lodged a police complaint," the police "had not arrested any of the attackers" yet, ICC stressed.
Earlier, On November 1, "a group of about 20 villagers led by the village head assaulted two converts, Rajalya and Soma Bhavar. The attackers beat the two Christians with sticks and told them they were not allowed to live in the village," ICC recalled.
INTERNAL INJURIES
"Both received internal injuries [and] the mob also vandalized the houses of six other Christians," the group added. Police have allegedly refused to intervene and apparently "accepted a false complaint that one of the attackers lodged against the Christian victims," the group said.
"An ICC representative spoke to Inspector C.R. Jhadav of the Kasa police station about the lack of police action in regards to the Christians. The inspector said he had no knowledge of attacks against Christians."
After the Christians returned from the police station, the village head reportedly told them he would throw them out of the village no matter which police station or government official they approached. He also promised them that he would "eradicate Christianity from the village," ICC said. Police officials could not be reached for comment.
"ANTI-CHRISTIAN CAMPAIGN"
In published remarks a FMPB official said that the village head "began the anti-Christian campaign about two years ago by physically attacking Christians and asking them to re-convert to their original faith." Most people in India are Hindus.
"Anti-Christian villagers have also been trying to make the Christians go back to their old habit of drinking alcohol ever since. But, the Christians have not given in to their continual coercion," ICC quoted the FMPB official as saying.
Christians comprise roughly two percent of India’s nearly 1.1 billion people, according to estimates of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Human rights groups have expressed concern about what they say are an increasing number of violent incidents against India’s Christian community. ICC can be reached via website: http://www.persecution.org (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from India).
