Home News 4 seriously injured in attack on Christians in India’s Chhattisgarh state

4 seriously injured in attack on Christians in India’s Chhattisgarh state

More than 20 people have been injured, four seriously, in a pre-dawn attack on a tribal Christian community in India’s central Chhattisgarh state on Nov. 25.

The Christians had gathered in Chinghawaram village in Sukma districtfor a baptism ceremony and were celebrating when they were attacked by a mob of 20-30 villagers armed with rods, bows and arrows around 2 a.m.

Pastor Shalik Netam of the Beershiba protestant church in Sukma said 27 people were injured. The four seriously injured were hospitalized while the rest were discharged after first aid treatment.




Police said the incident took place when some villagers objected to a sound system playing into the early hours of the morning and disturbing people. They claimed there was no communal angle to the violence.

Ishwar Dhruv, an official of Gadiras police station, said a first information report has been filed against 16 people who have been held under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for disturbing peace and order and produced in court.

He said they were maintaining a round-the-clock vigil in the village to ensure that there is no further violence.

Laxman Mandavi, in whose house the festivities were being held, said they were celebrating the baptism ceremony of his brother’s son. “We held a prayer service, had dinner and some guests were dancing and singing when the armed mob came to attack them,” Mandavi said.

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The mob of villagers and their headman abused the family and guests and started attacking them. Mandavi stated that some of the mob said “‘you are converting people and holding street plays into the night to convert more people into Christianity.’”

Mandavi said the mob then attacked his father with rods and shot arrows at him. His father is now battling for life in Sukuma district hospital along with three others. His mother was also injured and is nursing a bruised back.

Mandavi said some of the Christians ran to save themselves and have left the village in fear of being attacked again.

He said his parents converted to Christianity willfully in 2007, but of late Hindu hardliners have been harassing them to return to Hinduism.

A seriously injured man at Sukuma district hospital who attended the baptism ceremony at Chinghawaram village in central Chhattisgarh November 25. He was one of those reportedly attacked by a local mob of Hindu hardliners. (Photo supplied)

Sukma district collector Vineet Nandanwar later told media that the situation in the village was under control. He was quoted saying that officials had a meeting with the village headman, elders and other concerned persons to prevent any further incidents.

Jagdish Sahu, regional coordinator of the Evangelical Fellowship of India’s Religious Liberty Commission, said if the villagers were only objecting to the sound system being played late night they could have approached the police.

“Why did they take the law into their hands?” Sahu asked. “If it is just a one-off incident as the law enforcers claim why are police holding round-the-clock vigil in the village?” he added.

“It was a communal incident that the police are trying to deny. For the past few weeks trouble has been brewing here with Christians being threatened and some of their houses demolished,” he said.

However, the police have denied any such incidents have taken place.

But the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum has said the entire Bastar region of the state is being disturbed in a planned manner.

“This is a planned and conspiratorial attack,” the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum said in a media statement.




The forum said Christians in the region are being beaten up, their properties ransacked and intimidated in spite of the presence of senior officials.

“As many as 10 Christian families from different villages have approached police for protection from the mobs. The affected families are living in an absolute helpless situation,” the forum said.  

Christians of Kondagaon village in September lodged a police complaint alleging that other locals were harassing them and that they feared for their lives and property.

Around 16 tribal families filed a petition in the Chhattisgarh High Court in September stating that they had converted to Christianity of their own accord and pleaded for safety from attacks.

The Christians had alleged that they were harassed, threatened, and their houses vandalized by some villagers irked over their embracing Christianity.

The High Court has sought a response from the Kondagaon administration on the plea of the tribals.

According to Persecution Relief, the state of Chhattisgarh has recorded 39 incidents of persecution this year till September.

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