Source: Morning Star News, April 20, 2021
Pastor Sanjay Bhandari had taken his wife for a medical check-up earlier this month when they decided to visit her sister in the same area in Karnataka state, southwest India.
“While we were still having tea, a few men barged inside the house and, grabbing me by my shirt collar, they dragged me outside, accusing me of carrying out conversions,” Pastor Bhandari told Morning Star News. “I tried very hard to explain that it was my relatives’ house and that we were only paying them a casual visit, but the men refused to listen.”
The Hindu extremists in Halaga village, near Belgaum city, Belgaum District also ignored the pleas of his wife’s family that day, April 5. The men took Pastor Bhandari outside, where 50 to 60 Hindu extremists were waiting, he said.
The mob paraded him a mile to the rented worship hall where he has led Sunday services for five years, hitting and kicking him along the way, he said.
“They continued to hit me as they dragged me,” said Pastor Bhandari, a resident of Belgaum city. “They abused me and Jesus Christ in filthy language and pressured me to hail, ‘Jai Sri Ram [Hail lord Ram],’ as they beat me.”
The mob accused him of converting their community to Christianity and trying to convert the family he was visiting—though they are already Christian, he said.
As COVID continues to surge in India, we’re seeing numerous stories about people impacted and others trying to help—including members of the Indian diaspora. Did you realize the Indian diaspora, 18 million strong, is the largest in the world? (The Economic Times).