JAIPUR, India — Reena Behl answered the doorbell of the home she shares with her son and his wife in India’s Rajasthan state at 2:30 p.m. Aug. 13, and four men wearing motorcycle helmets demanded to see her son, a pastor.
Because of the helmets, the 51-year-old resident of Rajapark, Jaipur, could not see their faces. When she told them she did not know where Pastor Vishaal Behl and his wife were, the men forced their way into the house and started searching for the couple, breaking furniture and other household goods and threatening to kill them.
“The extremists wanted Vishaal and his wife to convert back to Hinduism, and they threatened that they will cut them to pieces if they do not convert back to Hinduism,” she said.
Crying for help, Reena Behl fell on the floor as she took blows to her head and the rest of her body. The extremists kicked, slapped and punched her, demanding to know the couple’s whereabouts.
The attackers fled upon realizing that neighbors were approaching after hearing her cries for help.
Reena Behl, who described herself as a Hindu but also a Christian, required hospital treatment for a gash on her head, fractures in her hand, abrasions and a swollen eye.
Vishaal Behl of Fire of God Ministries directs an organization that encompasses two churches in Jaipur and one in Amritsar, Punjab state, as well as evangelistic revival meetings, a jail ministry and a school program. He describes how his family once persecuted him for his new faith, but his mother said that is behind them; they have been deeply impressed by how much Christ has transformed her son, and the family accepts his faith.
Vishaal Behl and his wife have relocated.
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