After a pastor fell into a coma following harassment by hard-line Hindus in southern India, a gang of Hindu extremists in the same state beat another pastor after he prayed for healing at the home of an elderly church member, in January.
Police altered the statement of the Revd Gandham Padma Rao, 49, so that the ten young men who assaulted him were described only as drunken youths, not members of a Hindu nationalist group, as the pastor had stated.
Pastor Rao fulfilled church duties for two days after the assault before seeking medical help, and doctors told family members that his blood pressure was so high that he could have suffered a haemorrhage had he waited any longer. Another pastor, 47-year-old K.A. Swamy of Hyderabad, fell into a coma after suffering high blood pressure and a brain haemorrhage hours after Hindu extremists threatened him with highly offensive language and took him to police for distributing Bibles.
Pastor Rau’s son, Samuel Mark, said his father had left the home of the elderly church member, who had just been released from hospital, at about 9:30 pm and was walking to his car when the young men blocked his way with their motorcycles.
What are you doing here?
When the pastor ignored them and began walking on the other side of the road, one of the assailants shouted: ‘Why are you coming to our village? Why are you praying here?’ as four others began hitting him, knocking him to the ground, relatives said.
Pastor Rao and eyewitnesses said the youths were members of the Hindu nationalist Vishwa Hindu Vahini. ‘They spoke to me in vulgar language: ‘You must never come to our village to pray. You should never enter our village”,’ said Pastor Rao.
Two of the assailants held him while the others punched and kicked him, he said. ‘I could not balance myself and fell in a pit nearby. They picked me up, threw me on the road and started battering me again. I tried hard to regain my strength and run, but they followed me quickly, held my collar and pushed me off with their feet. When I fell down again, they began kicking and beating me again.’
One of the Hindu extremists tried to pick up a large stone and throw it at him, he said. Area residents heard his cries and came out of their homes, including a member of his church who came running and cried out for help.
