Three Christians were severely beaten by more than 50 suspected extremists in the state of Chhattisgarh in India.
On July 17, a large group of suspected extremists assaulted student
Umesh Patel, his father Sudhama Patel, and family friend Kiran
Vishwakarma. Sources say they were attacked because they were practicing
their Christian faith, UCA News relays.
A group of Hindus was questioning Umesh about his faith. After the
incident, the three Christians were attacked in Kamarud village, leaving
them in critical condition in the hospital. The assailants also trashed
their house.
Persecution Relief's head of India operations Tomson Thomas believes
the mob attack was part of Hindu extremists' bid to eliminate
Christianity from the country. He told UCA that they have been getting
reports about Christian villagers from various areas being attacked
every day.
Last month, Hindu hardliners beat up 29 Christians from the village
of Katholi who refused to renounce their faith and convert to Hinduism.
As in the case of the Patels, the attackers also vandalized the homes of
their victims, The Express details.
Women and children were among those who were beaten by the
extremists. The attack left six people seriously injured, and they had
to travel several miles just to get help.
The attack also caused the Christians to flee from their homes and
report the incident to the police, who ordered the extremists to stop
what they were doing. Authorities asked them to return to their homes,
but they were once again forced to leave after they received death
threats from their neighbors.
The Indian government has been accused of ignoring the pleas for help
from Christians. The Hindu nationalist group Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), which leads the current government, has been slammed for
allegedly turning a blind eye on the violence against religious
minorities.
In response to the said attacks, Human Rights Watch's South Asia
Director Meenakshi Ganguly expressed concern over the increasing number
of vigilante activities in the country. He then urged the prime minister
and the leaders of the BJP to act on the issue and bring the
perpetrators to justice.
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