Sunday worship services were suddenly disrupted on June 6 when approximately 200 armed Hindu militants stormed a church in Moti Chowk village in Chhattisgarh, India. Reports indicate that they were accompanied by two police officers when they entered the church. According to a June 9 report from Compass Direct, the mob physically assaulted Pastor Jaichand Dongre and other church members. Eyewitnesses said that the police officers slapped the pastor several times and attempted to humiliate him. The mob looted the church and took Bibles, Christian literature and musical instruments. Astonishingly, nine church members were then taken to the local police station and charged with disturbing the peace. The police refused to intervene when the rabble slapped the pastor on his way to the police station.
When a representative of the Minority Commission contacted the police station, he was initially told that the nine were charged because of conversion activities and that they deserved what they got. Those arrested were held for two days before being released on bail. Since then, the situation in the village has remained tense. Christians are being refused access to the village well and the local markets as activists ordered a social boycott.
Pray for these and other Christians in India facing social and legal difficulties because of their faith in Christ. Pray that the charges will be dropped and that political pressure will come to bear on local officials who endeavour to stop the spread of the Gospel through violence and persecution.
For more information on persecution facing Christians in India, click here.
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