Christians who worshipped privately in their homes in a village in eastern India were dragged to local leaders in June and forced to bow to a goddess idol.
The mob action on 14 June followed an announcement two days earlier by the heads of Mahuatoli village, Gumla District in Jharkhand state, that 12 Christian families would be banished if they did not return to the tribal Sarna religion. Also threatened with death, most of the Christian families have fled the village.
Escalation
Area pastor Boyen Munda said: ‘Threats have always been there in this area in Gumla District, but it had never escalated to this point that the Sarna extremists vowed to take lives. They are not in a right state of mind now. The Hindu extremist forces have joined hands with them and have been inciting them against the believers.’
