Hindu radicals attack a priest and his family while they were praying in a home church in Parihara village in Jharkhand on Tuesday.
Reverend Basant Kumar Paul's son has a broken leg and his wife suffered head injury and is in a coma now. Both may have to undergo surgery, which they cannot afford.
According to Reverend Patsy David, a Christian activist from the country, 8 or 9 members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) attacked the family because of their faith in Jesus Christ.
Some fanatics came to the house church and started abusing and beating everyone who had gathered in the home church including the pastor Paul's mother, and took the pastor's watch and other equipment.
Despite his injuries, pastor Paul reached the police station and filed a complaint and then fainted. After that the police took him to a nearby hospital, where he was admitted.
Shibu Thomas, founder of Persecution Relief, strongly condemned the violence against Christian minorities in the country. For him, the situation of Christians has only worsened since the Anti-Conversion Law was passed in Jharkhand in 2017. Radicals take full advantage of the law to harass and assault religious minorities in the country.
Persecution Relief, an organisation dedicated to the defence of discriminated Christians in India, has recorded 330 hate crime incidents against Christians in 2016, 440 in 2017 and at least 477 in 2018. The number has only increased over the years. From January to September 2019, 349 incidents of Christian persecution were recorded.
