DAKSINWARA, India — Police arrested Pastor Om Prakash Pandey July 16 while he was leading worship at his independent church in the village of Daksinwara in the Sultanpur district of India’s Uttar Pradesh state.
The 27-year-old pastor was taken to the Kurebhar police station, where police Inspector Jawahar Lal Saroj and others beat him mercilessly, according to sources who spoke under condition of anonymity. He was released July 17 without any charges filed against him.
Ram Gopal Varma, headman of Daksinwara village, told Compass Direct news service that Hindus had objected to Pandey conducting Bible classes for children of tribal people in the remote, Hindu-majority village.
The headman said that villagers roughed him up to serve as a stern warning to stop his “proselytizing” activities.
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