Source: Morning Star News, May 1, 2026
On April 13, two men of traditional tribal religion assaulted a pastor and his family for their Christian faith in an attempt to chase them from their land and home, sources said.
The two men came with a mob to his home [in Chhattisgarh], where his church meets, accusing Pastor Motu Sodi of luring villagers from their tribal religion and fraudulently converting them to Christianity. The two men assaulted the pastor, his wife, his non-Christian sister, and a niece.
The attackers warned, “We won’t let you stay in the village or on your own property. We want to chase you away,” he said.
After the assault on April 13, the two adherents of tribal religion filed a complaint against Pastor Sodi. Early the next morning, the two men returned, assaulted the family again and disclosed that they had filed a police complaint against them for fraudulent conversion.
Pastor Sodi then went to the police station and filed a counter-complaint against them for assaulting them.
Police registered the complaint as a “scuffle” between Pastor Sodi and the two men “related to a land dispute,” he said, denying that he fought back. “We told the police that we did not indulge in the assault but that they came and assaulted us brutally and injured us,” said Pastor Sodi.
He said he clearly told the officer that the two men targeted the family because of their faith in Christ, and that they had no argument or dispute over land. Police refused to listen.
The atmosphere in the village remains tense, he said.
Meanwhile, in Egypt, a Coptic Christian YouTuber faces five years in prison and hard labor after sharing his faith online (ADF International).