Two evangelists survive attack by playing dead

BHALWA, India — Two evangelists said they survived an attack in Balaghat district, Madhya Pradesh, by playing dead when suspected Hindu extremists surrounded them July 20 and severely beat them.

The six assailants accused Mahindra Kharoley, 20, and 30-year-old Munshi Prasaad Bahey of “forced conversion.” The two evangelists were bicycling to their home village of Susua following a prayer meeting at Dunda Sivni, 15 miles from Balaghat district, when the attackers on two motorbikes, with their faces covered, attacked them in Bhalwa village at around 10 p.m.

The assailants did not wait for them to respond to the charges of forced conversion before they began hitting and kicking them, the evangelists said.

“They banged my head on the cement road and hit me hard with their boots on top of my head, splitting my forehead,” Bahey said.

After 20 minutes they lay motionless, pretending to be dead in order to survive, they said. Bahey said one of the attackers called another by name, saying, “Mahesh, stop hitting them, they are already dead — let’s get out of here.”

With no moonlight, they were left bleeding in the pitch darkness of the jungle road about 800 meters from their home village. Kirnapur police accepted a complaint about the incident but have yet to investigate, the station officer-in-charge said.

“I am busy till Aug. 5 in other, more important cases,” Subinspector Sandhir Chaudhary said. “I will look into this only after that.”