FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Jeremy Sewall, Advocacy Director
1-800-422-5441, [email protected]

Elderly Pastor Imprisoned and Beaten for Evangelism in India

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 14, 2009) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that a 70-year-old Indian pastor was beaten and abused while serving 20 days in prison for false accusations of bribing Hindus to convert.

Pastor Captain Samuel has worked in the small village of Bashi Nagar in Jammu, India for 20 years and leads a church with 350 members. He first started to experience opposition to his ministry four months ago when, in two separate instances, a group of radical Hindus accosted Samuel, hitting him more than 15 times on the head and threatening him with a knife and gun. Unsatisfied with the results of their attacks, the radical Hindus started pressuring the local police to take action against Samuel.

As a result, the police detained Samuel on April 2, but released him the same day. On April 8, however, the police returned to Samuel’s home at the instigation of radical Hindus, arrested him and dragged him through the street to the local court, saying he was a terrorist. Three false witnesses testified that they were paid money to become Christians. The court remanded Samuel’s case to the local police, who put him in prison for 20 days.

There the police tortured the elderly pastor. His head was completely shaved; he was kept in a dirty cell without a toilet; and he was forced to wash all the bathrooms and sweep all the rooms in the prison. In addition, police officers beat him repeatedly.

Samuel was released from prison after posting bail of Rs. 20,000 ($420), but must be present in court on May 25. The police also ordered him to stop all his mission work in Jammu.

Please contact the Indian embassy in your country to ask that Pastor Samuel be cleared of the charges against him.

Indian Embassies:

USA: (202) 939-7000 [Phone] (202) 265-4351 [Fax]
Canada: (613) 744-3751 [Phone] [email protected]
UK: 020 7836 8484 [Phone] [email protected]

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ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC provides Awareness, Advocacy, and Assistance to the worldwide persecuted Church. For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.

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