Hindu extremists in central India launched a violent attack on a Christian church, ransacking the worship building, burning Bibles, and assaulting every member present, resulting in one person losing consciousness, sources reported.
In Dhamtari District of Chhattisgarh state, during a worship service of the independent Penial Prayer Fellowship in Borsi village, Pastor Wakish Sahu, who leads the church along with his 57-year-old father, Mannohan Sahu, described the events.
“They forcibly entered the church, disrupted the worship service and were carrying wooden rods and shouting slogans like ‘Jai Shri Ram’ [Hail lord Rama],” Pastor Wakish Sahu told Morning Star News.
He added that the attackers threatened the Christians, telling them to stop gathering for worship. The militants broke all the chairs, fans, and musical instruments, then collected all the Christian literature along with the Bibles and burned them.
They seized Pastor Mannohan Sahu, beating him with wooden rods, slapping his face repeatedly, hitting his head with wooden sticks, and kicking him, according to the pastor. Pastor Mannohan Sahu sustained injuries all over his body, with wounds mainly on his head, ear, chest, hands, and back.
The attackers also beat all 15 members present that day, including Pastor Wakish Sahu’s mother, who tried to intervene and save her husband; she suffered injuries to her hands and head during the incident.
“Two women and five men sustained severe injuries and had to be taken to the hospital for treatment,” Pastor Wakish Sahu stated. He mentioned that only five to seven of the assailants were from the village, while the others were outsiders whom he had never seen before. Despite filing a detailed complaint at the Maganlodh police station, officers did not register a formal complaint, indicating they would investigate first.
“Since the attack, the believers have stopped coming for worship as they are too scared, and understandably so; but our family members, around 10 of us, still worship at the same time,” the pastor said. “We have decided that we will not give in to fear.”
He also revealed that a mob of Hindu extremists attacked his church in June 2024 in a similar manner, threatening all present and instructing them to stop attending worship services. “Since then, our congregation of close to 50 people had reduced to 15, and since the latest attack, nobody [outside his family] is coming to church for fear of being assaulted,” he added.
In a related incident, another church in Dhamtari, Elohim Church, was targeted by members of the Hindu nationalist Bajrang Dal on June 29, according to Pastor Alok Majumdar. “The Hindu extremists entered the church while the service was going on and disrupted it by loudly singing Hindu religious hymns,” Pastor Majumdar told Morning Star News.
Officers took an informal complaint, but it has not yet been formalized. There was no report of physical violence or vandalism in this case.
On the same day, extremists also disrupted the worship service of another church located in Gopal Puri, about 10 miles from Pastor Majumdar’s church. They found a 21-year-old man outside the building who was attending church for the first time and assaulted him. The militants then searched for the church pastor.
Pastor Raju Verghese, Pastor Majumdar, and Reverend Diamond Phillius, president of the Dhamtari Christian Forum, submitted a memorandum to the collector’s office on July 1, bringing attention to the rise of attacks against area churches and appealing for government action.
According to Open Doors, India is ranked 11th on its 2025 World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most severe persecution. This ranking marked a decline from 31st place in 2013, and India has continued to fall in the rankings since Narendra Modi became prime minister.
