by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - Hindu extremists last week violently attacked a home prayer meeting attended by 50 Christians in India’s Chhattisgarh state, severely injuring a number of women and making one of them eat cow dung, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports. Persecution against Christians in India has intensified dramatically since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014.
The congregation of believers had gathered at a member's home in Raipur in the evening of October 17 when a mob of nationalists arrived and began to pressure them to chant verses to Hindu gods, CSW said. When the Christians refused, the Hindus began to assault them. One man was kicked in the chest and a number of women were seriously wounded when the attackers hurled stones at them.
Although the police arrived at around 8 pm and took some women and children to the police station for protection at around midnight, no action has been taken against the perpetrators, CSW said. Moreover, vehicles damaged by the Hindus and taken away by police have still not been returned to their Christian owners: “The officers have refused to return them, despite repeated requests by the families,” CSW said in its report.
In a statement about this latest incident of violence against Christians and ensuing inaction by police, CSW Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: “While we note that the police did attend the scene and attempt to protect the Christians who were being targeted in this incident, delays in taking them to safety, restoring their property and any sort of follow-up to the initial police report, have prolonged their ordeal unnecessarily.
“In both Chhattisgarh and its northern neighbor state of Uttar Pradesh there have been several incidents in which Christians have been attacked in recent months, but no action has been taken despite the completion of the requisite First Information Reports. We urge the Indian government to strengthen the police force to act on such cases and ensure that justice is guaranteed for all citizens, irrespective of their religious identity," Thomas added.