Eight Christians arrested in a week in Madhya Pradesh

In the past seven days, eight Christians in Madhya Pradesh have been attacked and taken into police custody for engaging in forced religious conversions.

Radicals Hindus use forced conversions as a common reason to attack Christians, abuse them and beat them and land them in jail.

In Jhabua district, pastor Rahul Para and his family were attacked at midnight and forced to vacate their home. The pastor was arrested on false accusation of forced conversions and his family was left with nowhere to go.

In another similar incident in Jhabua, radicals Hindus attacked pastor Pascal Vadakhiya and three other Christians for carrying Bibles with them on December 7. Radicals beat them, accuse them of engaging in forced conversions and took them to local police station, where the four Christians were detained for two days. The radicals warned pastor Vadakhiya to not to enter into the village.

Pastor Vadakhiya leads a congregation of 200 Christians with weekly worship service. But now, he is concerned about the current situation of Christians in that area.

In Alirajpur district, three other Christians were arrested on the same charges. They were handed over to the police, and the authorities confiscated their Bibles and other Christian literature.