Evangelist Beaten and Refused Treatment for Converting Dalits

05 November 2003

Last month, an evangelist in Siddapuram, Karnataka, South India, T.J. Mathew, was returning home on his bike from the home of a fellow believer when he was attacked and beaten unconscious. According to VOM sources, when other Christians tried to take him to the local hospital, the attackers prevented them until police came and intervened. However, when he was taken to the Siddapura hospital, he was refused admittance. Mathew was then taken about one hundred kilometres away to Mysore, where he was finally treated. The attackers complained to the police that Mathew was converting Dalits (low caste Hindus) to Christianity.

Mathew was expected to return to Siddapura on October 28 and a baptismal service is planned on November 7, when about ten converts from Hinduism are expected to be baptized.

Pray for a full recovery for Brother Mathew and protection from further attacks. Pray that the baptismal service will continue uninterrupted. Pray for these new believers, as they take a stand for Jesus Christ, that they will have the spiritual strength to stand in the face of opposition.

India

India Information

Current Ministry Projects
VOMC assists persecuted Christians with legal support and rehabilitation assistance, and cares for children of martyrs by providing them with a safe place to be nurtured physical and spiritually. VOMC also partners to equip Christians in India with Biblical training and works to strengthen and support marginalized and persecuted Christian women. Additionally, VOMC helps to provide medical assistance to believers who have faced injuries after being attacked.”

Project Funds: Families of Martyrs, Equipping the Saints, Legal Defense, Relief and Development, Women’s Ministry, Medical Fund
Country Information
Population
1,399,179,585 (2023 est.)

Ethnicity (%)
Indo-Aryan (72), Dravidian (25), other (3)

Religion (%)
Hinduism (79.8), Muslim (14.2), Christianity (2.3), Sikh (1.7), other (2)

Leader
President Droupadi Murmu (2022)

Government type
Federal parliamentary republic

Legal system
Based on English common law; separate personal law codes apply to Christians, Hindus and Muslims.

Source: CIA World Factbook
Pray for India
Despite the intimidation and violence that have taken place in many of India's states, may Christians wisely yet unashamedly preach the Gospel. Pray that indigenous Christians and foreign missionaries will minister in ways that do not hint at fraudulent conversions, unmasking the intentions behind the anti-conversion legislation. Intercede for India's leaders, that they may reign with justice and righteousness.

India News

Pastor Acquitted of Anti-Conversion Charges

Believers in India.
Photo: VOMC

In October 2021, Pastor Nandan Singh was gathered with 25 other Christians for an all-night prayer meeting when militant Hindus, primarily from nearby villages, stormed into his home. Accused of converting people to Christianity, Pastor Nandan became the first individual to be charged under Uttarakhand's anti-conversion legislation.

Read more...
Supreme Court to Review Anti-Conversion Laws

The Supreme Court of India.
Photo: Wikimedia / Subhashish Panigrahi (cc)

The Supreme Court of India has agreed to hear a series of petitions challenging the constitutionality of anti-conversion laws enacted by several of the country's states. On September 16th, the court issued notices to the respective state governments, requesting their formal responses within four weeks. The case is scheduled to be heard in six weeks, and the judges have indicated that they may consider ordering the states to pause the enforcement of their existing laws until a decision is made.

Read more...
New Policies Further Restrict Religious Freedom

A church in India.
Photo: Flickr / Ashish Kumar Milap (cc)

Recent developments in two Indian states have raised serious concerns for Christians, particularly in relation to the newly heightened restrictions on religious conversions. In the first incident, police in Chhattisgarh notified more than 200 house churches around the state capital city of Raipur that worship gatherings within private homes are no longer permitted.

Read more...
Pastors Arrested and Assaulted

A screenshot of people disrupting the service in Bhilai.
Photo: Morning Star News

On July 20th, six pastors were arrested after a mob disrupted a church service in Bhilai, a city located within the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. The assailants chanted Hindu slogans and accused the pastors of engaging in forcible conversions. As the mob grew increasingly vocal, shouting obscenities and threatening violence, Pastor Baksh locked the church doors to protect his congregation members.

Read more...