(ETH) – Christians in India have been brutally attacked and driven from their homes in three villages by Hindu extremists with police declining to prevent or even stop in spite of prior warnings according to a new report from Morning Star.
The report states that the attacks occurred on Sept. 22-23rd by mobs that swelled to more than 3,000 agitators who damaged homes, sent Christians fleeing for their lives, and left at least one woman hospitalized with serious injuries, However, the most disturbing aspect was that the police officers’ only response to the incident was to pressure Christians to contribute to the Hindu festivals that were the touchpoint of the hostilities.
One local, Sivram Koyam, of Kakadbeda in Kondagaon District, stated that he and other Christians were at the local police station on Sept. 22nd with the intent to warn officers of impending violence when they received calls from relatives saying fierce mobs were attacking their homes.
“From three in the afternoon till eight in the night, I pleaded with and begged the police officers to go and stop them, but they did not go,” Koyam told Morning Star News. “The furious mob came in search of me, and not finding me home, they picked up my wife and smashed her on the ground three times,” Koyam stated that the mob of about 3,000 animists was chanting Hindu slogans as they continued to damage homes in Kakadbeda village, he said.
“One of them tore my wife’s blouse [the garment is worn beneath a saree],” Koyam said. “Besides grievous internal injuries, my wife was gripped with fear and traumatized by the incident. She developed a fever and could not move due to severe pain and injuries.”
Koyam stated that fearing for their lives, he and nine other Christians have reportedly taken shelter in the house of a Christian several miles away from the attacks. As the Christians ran for their lives, Koyam said that the assailants caught one of the Christian and beat him, and now his whereabouts are unknown.
