REWADAHI, India — Hindu nationalist extremists belonging to the Bajrang Dal organization attacked Christians June 16 in Rewadahi village, Rajnandgaon district. Sajan K. George of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) said that just before midnight, a mob of about 55 Hindu extremists went to the house of two converts, Karthik Sahu and one identified only as Ramesh. Sahu was scheduled to marry a Christian convert June 18, and the Hindus derided him for marrying by Christian rites. The extremists beat and kicked both men for nearly 15 minutes, then went to the neighboring house of Sagni Sahu, where weekly prayer meetings take place, and began berating those in the house and falsely accusing them of forcibly converting villagers to Christianity. The extremists then left with $703, which Sagni and her husband had from selling their rice crop.
“The extremists accused the couple of having the money to lure villagers to convert to Christianity,” GCIC regional coordinator Sam Mathew said. “At around 1 a.m. on June 17, the couple went to the Lalbagh police station to register a complaint, and the police detained the couple till morning and released them at 11 a.m.” Police refused to register a case of robbery against the extremists, he added.
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