16-year-old boy suffers burns over 60% of his body in suspected anti-Christian attack

Christians pray as others take confession during Good Friday prayer services on April 10, 2009, in the village of Raikia, south of Bhubaneswar, India. (Photo: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

A 16-year-old Christian boy suffered burns over 60% of his body after an acid attack in Bihar. The family says they suspect Hindu nationalists are behind it because the boy is a leader in a local church and the area they live in has anti-Christian sentiments.

The victim, identified as Nitish Kumar, was attacked with acid last week soon after he left his house in a village to go to the market early in the morning, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern reported Saturday.

Almost immediately after leaving the house, the boy was carried back by people as he screamed due to burns all over his body, the victim’s sister, Raja Davabi, was quoted as saying.

“It was a horrifying scene of my brother,” she said, “I started yelling and crying looking at my brother. He was in terrible pain at that point and all that I could do is to share the pain by wrapping him in my hands.”

The boy was taken to a nearby clinic for first aid treatment and then transported to a specialized burn unit in the state capital of Patna.

The attacker has not been identified but the victim’s family and the local Christian community suspect it is the work of anti-Christian activists in the village.

The family, which regularly holds Christian gatherings in their home, converted to Christianity two years ago after being delivered from an evil spirit, and the victim and his brother are active in the church and conduct daily prayer gatherings.

“I don’t understand why this happened to my son and who might have done it, we didn’t do any harm to anybody in our village or anywhere else. My heart pains when I see my son,” the victim’s father, Bhakil Das, was quoted as saying.

Courtesy of The Christian Post.