NEW DELHI, India — A Christian woman pregnant with her first child suffered a miscarriage after a village headman and his family members beat and strangled her.
Records from Government District Hospital-Maharani in Jagdalpur in India’s Chhattisgarh state show Kunika Kashyap was six weeks and six days pregnant at the time of the attack, her husband told Morning Star News.
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The 25-year-old woman was in serious condition when admitted to the hospital Jan. 2 for injuries from that day’s attack. An ultrasound showed the baby was alive, her husband said, “but by 6:30 in the evening she suffered a miscarriage.”
The attack occurred when Kunika visited a Christian relative who was ailing.
‘Perceived crime’
The tribal headman, who is kin to the sick Christian and to Kunika’s husband, recorded Kunika by cell phone, hoping to get proof of her praying “as evidence of some perceived crime,” Kunika’s husband told Morning Star.
Kunika demanded he stop and swatted his hand away when he refused, according to Kunika and another Christian.
Kunika said the headman, his wife and daughter then assaulted her.
Although Kunika’s husband filed a police report, he suspects that the case is not being investigated.
India is No. 11 on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of places most difficult to be a Christian.
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