“My wife’s clothes were torn. Women who were part of our congregation that day were sexually assaulted, auraton ki bhi lajja bhang ki (women’s modesty was outraged)…all this in the name of allegations related to religious conversion.”
This is how pastor Ravindra Kumar recalls the violence at his home last year.
The 40-year-old building materials contractor from Bharatpur has practised Christianity for 14 years. But on July 5, 2024, when around 30 friends and family members had gathered at his house in Sangam Vihar Colony for a prayer meeting, a mob led by local leaders of the Vishva Hindu Parishad stormed in. An assault allegedly followed.
“My friend, Phool Singh, who was a guest at that gathering, sustained a head injury and a broken rib, while his face was forcefully splattered with cow dung,” Ravindra told Newslaundry, while narrating how the male members present at the prayer meeting were subjected to physical assault.
A video from that day, seen by Newslaundry, shows men in saffron stoles barging through Ravindra’s home, shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram’. One woman recording the scene screams, “Haath mat lagana!” before the footage cuts out.
Six months later, a similar scene played out nearly 600 km away in southern Rajasthan’s Banswara district. On January 24, 2025, Pastor Sulaiman Dodiyar had just finished a prayer meeting in Kasarwadi village when he and five fellow vishwasi (believers) were surrounded by Bajrang Dal and VHP members.
“Police made us strip…we were paraded on the road in underwear,” claimed Sulaiman, who embraced Christianity in 1999. “This continued for 10 minutes, with bystanders chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’.”
This story was originally published in newslaundry.com. Read the full story here.