In Nawada, Dehradun District, Uttarakhand state, India, a Hindu extremist mob attacked a house church, vandalizing the home and beating the Christians gathered there. The incident occurred on July 14, when a religious extremist mob of about 150 people attacked the worship gathering held in the house of the pastor.

Pastor Rajesh Bhomi said that his mother-in-law warned them about the mob she saw on her way to the worship gathering so they could lock the doors and try to continue the worship quietly. Overall, 17 people were in the house church when the mob arrived: 15 believers, Pastor Bhomi, and his wife, Deeksha Pal.

The mob tried to break the locked door and get into the house, shouting, asking the people inside to open the door, and saying that they only wanted to talk.

“As they banged and pushed the gate, in that struggle the lock was let loose by us, and at once the mob of around 150 rushed inside the premises like flood waters. They went all around the house vandalizing every object in their sight, and some of them were carrying sticks. They beat wherever on the body badly.”

Pastor Bhomi remembered the attack. Multiple members of the congregation were severely injured, including his wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, and two female members of the church. The attackers used lathis, a long, heavy stick predominantly used by police officers, to beat up the Christians and vandalize the interior of the house. Pastor Bhomi added:

“They received lathi blows in the stomach, neck, and hands. As they continued beating us, some from among the mob snatched away our mobile phones, laptop, and damaged the musical instrument.”

The terror of the Hindu extremist mob continued until the police arrived and managed to disperse the crowd. But even with that, their struggle did not end. At the police station, they were kept waiting for an extensive amount of time, having problems with giving statements. At first, police officers wanted to issue a complaint against unknown assailants, even though a member of the house church named 11 of the assailants; only after long persuasion did the police include those names in the report. The names were included, but the statements from the church members were excluded, and the final report was a toned-down version of the events.

“The faces of the assailants are so clearly seen in the video, yet police have not taken any action against them so far. They only tell us that the investigation is underway,”

said Pastor Bhomi. The hardships of the church members continued even after the attack. The member who identified some of the assailants lost his job, and shop owners in the neighbourhood refused to sell anything to the members of the congregation. The pastor said that he had no hatred towards those who attacked them.

“They came with hatred in their hearts to attack us; tomorrow, if by God’s grace they knock on our gates again, seeking the Lord, I would gladly open the gates of my house for them.”

Now, the house church has put a halt to their in-person meetings and holds worship services online.

Source: Christian Daily

Photo: Mohammed Zubair