FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Jeremy Sewall, Advocacy Director
1-800-422-5441, jeremy@www.persecution.org

Three Christians Beaten in Two Days in Hyderabad, India

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 5, 2009) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that a pastor and two Christians were attacked by Hindu radicals in two separate incidents near Hyderabad, one of India’s most developed cities.

Pastor Beaten While Helping His Brothers

Pastor David works in Bowrampet village, and was holding special church services there from May 18 to May 20. The turnout was higher than expected, and incited the jealousy of a local radical Hindu group.

On May 26, David’s brothers were attacked and beaten by villagers who thought that they were thieves. When he heard of the attack, David rushed to the location to rescue his brothers. When he arrived, radical Hindus seized him and accused him of forcibly converting Hindus. They beat him and dragged him to the police station and told the officers that David had been performing forcible conversions. This enraged the police officers on duty, who joined the radical Hindus in beating David again.

David and his brothers sustained minor injuries.

Christian Barbers Beaten for Participating in Children’s Program

Just two days later, two Christians were attacked in a different village near Hyderabad. Anjenevelu and Ramesh run a barbershop in Kammadanam village, and had assisted World Vision in conducting a Christian program for the children in their village.

Their involvement in the program angered Hindu radicals, and on May 28 a group of Hindu fanatics forced their way into the barbershop and began beating the two men for “converting people to Christianity.”

The two men sustained minor injuries and filed a case with the police station against their attackers.

Jeremy Sewall, ICC’s Advocacy Director, said, “We often hear of Christians beaten for their faith in India, but do not have a real picture of what that means. These men were kicked, hit with steel and wooden rods, knocked over, stomped on, and spat upon. It would be the equivalent of a group of men surrounding you and hitting you as hard as they could with baseball bats, over and over again. Please pray that they will recover quickly.”

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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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