A group of radical Hindu nationalists in Meerpet, Hyderabad disrupted a house prayer meeting and beat Christians though they had permission from the landlord to hold the gathering at home.
On November 4, Sadhya, 50, had invited some of her church members to attend a prayer meeting at her home.
Pastor Steven Hanok, one of the members of the church, said that Sadhya had obtained permission from her Hindu landlord before holding the prayer meeting.
On the day Christians gathered at Sadhya’s house, a group of 15 radical Hindus with wooden clubs and sticks disrupted the meeting and started to attack the participants.
The landlord also joined the radicals and attacked the Christians.
Pastor Hanok told International Christian Concern (ICC) that the religious fanatics, in fact, had come prepared to burn the Christians.
“I saw someone from the group taking petrol out of the fuel tank of a motorbike and heard others directing where the burning would take place,” he said.
“I was panicked as all of this was going on. For 30 minutes the attack continued, but we eventually managed to run in different directions and reached the police station,” he told ICC.
A Christian woman lost six of her teeth and a man’s eardrum was shattered in the attack. Several others also sustained injuries.
A FIR was filed and the police remanded five nationalists for taking park in the attack.
Although the landlord allowed Sadhya to hold the gathering, Pastor Hanok suspects that he was the one who informed the radicals about the prayer meeting.
