“A group of 50-60 men, armed with rods and sticks, came and disrupted our prayer on February 19. They hit me and my son with rods, accusing us of converting Hindus into Christians in the church,” pastor Satyen Bishwakarma told The Wire. https://thewire.in/communalism/up-bajrang-dal-activists-allege-forced-conversions-vandalise-church-assault-worshippers
The pastor added that he and his family have been living in constant fear as the Siddharthnagar police have refused to register a first information report against the Bajrang Dal.
However, as on March 5, an FIR has still not been lodged by the police.
Another woman, an eyewitness to the incident and a devoted worshipper, told The Wire on March 3, “My husband, who is a cancer patient, was brutally beaten with a rod. When I intervened, they also attacked me. The goons were chanting ‘Jai Shree Ram’. One of the young girls had her hand fractured. The church has been locked ever since, and we live in constant fear of the Bajrang Dal goons.”
by Yaqut Ali
06/03/2023