Uddinapally, 8 June 2009: Pastor Paul Chinnaswamy (50) was attacked by two young men on Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. while he was sitting in front of his church in Uddinapally, Hosur Taluk, Krishnagiri District in Tamil Nadu.
Pastor Paul was fasting on Saturday morning and sitting outside his church alone when the attackers, both around thirty years old, came on a bike and stopped in front of the pastor. They asked him, “Why do you have to do these things?” Without another word, they got off the bike. One of them kicked the pastor in his chest so hard that the pastor dropped to the ground in pain. Before he could get up, the other man punched the pastor in his jaw, breaking two of his teeth.
About 200 meters away, there were several villagers who were making bricks. When they saw the pastor being attacked, they ran towards him to help him. When the attackers saw the villagers running towards them, they got on their bike and fled. The villagers picked up the pastor and rushed him to a nearby clinic for first aid.
After the pastor was attended to medically, the villagers and he went to the nearby Uddinapally Police Station and lodged a complaint there. When asked by the police if he knew who his attackers were, the pastor said he did not know them and had not even noticed their number plate, but he could recognize them if he saw them. Hearing this the police took him to three surrounding villages but the pastor was not able to identify his attackers.
It is most likely that the attackers were from a distant village and from radical Hindu groups. This is one of several attacks that have occurred against Pastor Paul over the past few years. He has been warned several times by the police to be careful of Hindutva groups in the area. His family and his home have been attacked several times over 2007-2008 and he has received numerous threats as well.
At the time of the attack, Pastor Paul was alone. His family was visiting his ailing mother-in-law in Kelamangalam, 8 kms away from Uddinapally.
