Around 25 extremist Hindu militants interrupted a Sunday worship service in Karnataka, southern India on 23 November. After vandalising the church, they attacked worshippers with rods warning them not to rebuild the church.
Eight of the church members were injured, two of whom were hospitalised with broken legs.
Despite the fact that there is a local police station close to the church, the police did not intervene when they arrived at the scene of the attack. Instead, they took Pastor Robert Solomon D’Souza away for questioning.
Pastor Robert said that he had been threatened by Rajendran, leader of the BJP (a radical Hindu party), and told, ‘We do not want a church in this place. You better leave this place or face the consequences’.
