There are regular reports of persecution of Christians by Hindus in India. The police often turn a blind eye. Following are the headlines of reports from the last several months by Morning Star News: Hindu extremists beat pastors at police station in Central India (Sept. 30); Christian boy, 14, clinging to life after burn attack in eastern India (Sept. 13); Pastor in India driven from home after police torture, threats (July 22); Pastor in northern India killed for his faith, sources say (July 6); Christian families driven into jungles of Odisha State (June 25); Pastor seriously wounded, father killed in northern India (June 4); Police rescue–then jail–Christian family attacked in India (May 4); Christians seriously injured in mob assault on house church (March 24)’ Police in India allow Hindu extremist attack on churches, then arrest Christians (March 3); Pregnant Christian woman loses baby after Hindu extremist attack (February 5). The summary of the last news story is as follows: “Leela Bai, eight months pregnant, rushed outside a house she was visiting in central India after hearing the commotion of a Hindu extremist mob attacking tribal Christians preparing to celebrate the New Year. The mob pushed her down and kicked her stomach until she fell unconscious, and later that evening she miscarried on the way to a hospital–which declined to give her any care, she said. Scores of tribal Christians planning to celebrate New Year’s Eve with a thanksgiving service instead spent the night in the mountains where they had fled to save their lives. ‘My baby died in my womb after they pushed me down and kicked my stomach,’ the 25-year-old Bai said as she wept. Later that evening she miscarried on the way to a hospital–which declined to give her any care, she said. Scores of tribal Christians planning to celebrate New Year’s Eve with a thanksgiving service instead spent the night in the mountains where they had fled to save their lives” (“Pregnant Christian Woman Loses Baby,” Morning Star News, Feb. 5, 2021).
(Friday Church News Notes, October 8, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)