NEW DELHI, India — Christians summoned to a village meeting were physically attacked, threatened with death and forced to flee their community for not renouncing their faith in Jesus.
Approximately 45 individuals from 10 Christian families were expelled April 24 from Durandarbha village in India’s Chhattisgarh state, reports Morning Star News. The Christians fled to forests and hills until they found refuge in a church in Chintalnar, which is 11 miles away.
RELATED: Check out more stories on the persecuted church.
Even though they had been assaulted, members of an 11th Christian family remained in the village and were put “under house arrest … by the villagers,” said Kunjam Bechem, a resident forced to leave.
The 11 families were summoned to a village meeting April 24 during which 60 villagers who follow tribal religion encircled them and beat them with wooden sticks, Morning Star reports.
The villagers demanded that the Christians renounce their faith. Villagers also searched Christian homes for Bibles, bank documents and ration cards and burned the items.
On April 26, police escorted Christians to a government hospital for medical treatment and advised them against returning quickly to their village. Police warned assailants of legal action for further offenses, Bechem said.
A similar situation occurred April 12 in Karigundam village, in which an estimated 2,000 villagers demanded that 15 Christian families renounce their faith. Seven families buckled under fear, a local Christian leader told Morning Star. The other eight families were expelled.
World Watch
India is No. 11 on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the 50 places most difficult to be a Christian.
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