“When his 12-year-old daughter asked the extremists why they were attacking her father, they began to beat her too.” Sadly, this kind of brutality directed at Christians is commonplace in India. The pastor and his daughter were later forced to worship Hindu idols.
08/07/2012 India (MNN) – While believers were gathered at his home singing worship songs, a mob of Hindu extremists brutally attacked Raju*, a church leader trained by Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India.
Mission India’s Dave Stravers said about 20 men broke into Raju’s home wielding clubs. Radicals destroyed things in the home and then turned their rage to Raju. When his 12-year old daughter asked the extremists why they were attacking her father, they began to beat her too.
“Persecution is a growing reality in India,” said Stravers. After violently attacking Raju and his family, extremists proceeded to drag the believer and his wife to a nearby Hindu temple.
“They smeared vermillion, which is like a finger-paint, on their foreheads and pushed their heads down…and forced them to worship the idols in the temple,” Stravers explained.
“This is a pretty typical thing; it happens quite often in India.”
Last month, the Evangelical Fellowship of India observed weekly attacks on Christians. Hindu extremists throughout India threatened and beat believers, often accusing them of ‘forcible conversions’. (Read more here.
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