Radical Hindus armed with wooden sticks have reportedly attacked parishioners at a Pentecostal church in India while looking for the pastor.
According to Morning Star News, around 25 masked assailants stormed the Full Gospel Pentecostal Church in Uttar Pradesh state during a worship service last month to look for Pastor Kamlesh Kumar.
The pastor's wife, identified only as Shashikala, said that the extremists were looking for her husband to kill him.
"They were looking for the pastor, saying, 'We will kill him today,'" Shashikala told Morning Star News. "We had hidden him inside a room and locked the room from outside. They went on hunting for him everywhere. This is how we were able to save his life."
During the search, the assailants reportedly hit some of the parishioners, including women and children. Ram Prasad, 55, reportedly tried to stop the attack, but he was beaten unconscious by the Hindu extremists.
"I saw Ram Prasad fall on the floor bleeding profusely after being hit by a brick, but the attackers continued kicking him and hitting him with wooden sticks until he lay motionless on the floor," Shashikala told Morning Star News.
Kumar said the attackers chanted "Jai Shri Ram" (Hail lord Ram) when they entered the church and even assaulted the women.
"They manhandled women, beat them, pulled their clothes, spoke to them in a filthy language and disgraced them," Kumar told Morning Star News.
Prasad had to receive stitches for his head wound, while three other women were brought to the hospital for treatment.
The incident was reported to the police, but Kumar says that instead of conducting an investigation, the responding officer criticized the Christians for operating a church.
"Instead of taking action against our plight, the police began to question us as to, 'Why are you running a church? You are not supposed to worship here...otherwise you will get killed and we can do nothing to help you,'" the pastor was quoted by Morning Star News as saying.
The officer reportedly interrogated the church members and asked whether any of them were forced to convert to Christianity.
According to Morning Star News, around 55 people from nearby villages regularly attend the worship services at the Pentecostal church every Sunday.
Religious rights advocates say that Hindu extremists have been emboldened to carry out attacks against Christians since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014.
The increasing attacks against Christians have prompted the watchdog group Open Doors to rank India as the 11th worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, moving four places up in the list from the previous year.
