Acting with impunity, a gang of Hindu extremists kicked and punched an Indian pastor who they waylaid on the road late last month, nearly killing him.
The Rev. Gandham Padma Rao, 49, promptly reported the incident to the police, saying 10 young men who he knew were members of the Hindu nationalist Vishwa Hindu Vahini group assaulted him on Jan. 27 in Medipally village, Telangana state, India, the Morning Star News reported.
The pastor's son, Samuel Mark, said one of the Hindu extremists picked up a large stone and was about to throw it at his father but was prevented from doing so when residents in the area cried and came out of their homes to rescue the pastor.
Although Pastor Rao and those who witnessed the attack testified that the assailants were members of a Hindu nationalist group, they were dismayed when they found out later that the police altered the pastor's statement and described his attackers as "drunken youths," according to Morning Star News.
Two days after the assault, the badly injured Pastor Rao still fulfilled his church duties before seeking medical help.
The attack on Pastor Rao came just a week after another pastor, 47-year-old K.A. Swamy of Hyderabad, fell into a coma after suffering high blood pressure and brain haemorrhage hours after Hindu extremists confronted him and dragged him to the police station where he was accused of illegally distributing Bibles.
The persecution of Christians in India appears to be on the rise with Open Doors USA now placing India at number 15, up from no. 17 previously, in its 2017 World Watch List of countries where Christians are most persecuted.
Open Doors USA states that the persecution level in India has become "severe," noting that Hindu extremists' level of impunity has increased.
Christians are now "regularly attacked by radical Hindus" as the "level of intolerance continues to increase," the persecution monitoring organisation says.
Former Hindus who converted to Christianity bear the brunt of persecution, Open Doors states. "They are constantly under pressure to return to their old beliefs, and are often physically assaulted, sometimes killed," it says.
Last month, a local bishop noted that Christians are finding it difficult to live normal lives in India.
Auxiliary Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas of the city of Ranchi in Jharkhand state in eastern India said Christians, who comprise only 2.3 percent of the Indian population, are most oppressed in northern India, adding that evangelisation efforts in that area have been impeded, the Navhind Times reported.
Despite being persecuted, Christians in India are refusing to get cowed as they persevere "faithfully until the end," Bishop Mascarenhas said.
