Madhya Pradesh state were reportedly free Tuesday, August 22, after being released on bail.
Pastor K.K. Jwala of the Sheopur Bible Fellowship church and three members, identified only as Anup, Jijo and Raju Mathew, were released from the Sheopur district jail late Monday, August 21, Christians said. It was not immediately clear how much, if anything, was paid for the bail.
They were detained Sunday, August 20, when a group of about 15 Hindu militants allegedly punched and hit the Christians with hockey sticks soon after a worship service at a rented hall in Kila area in Shivpuri of Sheopur district at about 10:30 am local time.
Christian news agency Compass Direct said the extremists dragged the Christians to a nearby police station while beating them en route.
CHRISTIANS DETAINED
Police apparently detained the Christians immediately. The four were expected to appear before a court on August 30. The officer in charge of the police station, Hukum Singh Yadav, also allegedly beat up Pastor Jwala at the facility. There was no immediate independent confirmation of the beating incident.
Officials have not commented. Reports of the violence come amid growing concern among native missionaries that Hindu groups will use anti-conversion legislation to especially attack evangelical Christians who are often involved in evangelization activities and planting churches, BosNewsLife learned.
"In Madhya Pradesh, the state government passed an amendment to anti-conversion legisla, requiring clergy and prospective converts to notify authorities one month before a conversion ceremony is to take place," said Christian Aid Mission which supports native missionaries.
CONVERSION CEREMONY
[This] includes the name and address of the convert, along with the date and venue of the conversion ceremony," added the US-based group. Several missionaries and church leaders have reportedly been attacked by militants using the controversial legislation as an excuse, investigators say.
Rajasthan, Orissa, Gujarat and Chattisgarh states have adopted similar laws amid concern among Hindu leaders over the spread of Christianity among for instance ‘Dalits’, also known as the ‘untouchables’ as they are regarded the ‘lowest caste’ in India’s ancient system of Hinduism.
Christians are a minority in India, a predominantly Hindu nation of roughly 1.1 billion people. (With reports from India, BosNewsLife Research and BosNewsLife’s Stefan J. Bos).
