A Christian prayer meeting was attacked by a Hindutva mob in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun district.
The prayer meeting was being held in a residence on July 14. The mob forcefully entered the house alleging that a mass conversion was taking place. The Hindutva workers made derogatory remarks against the Christian faith, attacked the inmates including women and children present there and kicked the Christian Cross, The Newslaundry reported
Seven people have received injuries. One of the women who had a child was asked where is her sindoor and mangalsutra.
A video purportedly made by one of the attackers has gone viral. In the video, one of the attackers says, “They (Christians) are targeting poor Hindu families, lure them with bags of rice and force them to get converted to Christianity,” the attacker is heard saying.
The mob was led by Devendra Dobhal, who claims to be a former Army soldier and an RSS worker.
Speaking on the incident, Dehradun senior superintendent of police (SSP) Ajay Singh confirmed that no religious conversions took place. An FIR has been filed against 11 persons, including Devendra Dobhal, Bijendra Thapa, Sadhir Thapa, Sanjeev Paul, Sudhir Paul, Dhirendra Dhobal, Arman Dhobal, Aryaman Dhobal, Anil Hindu, Bhupesh Joshi, and Bijendra Singh.
They have been booked under the relevant BNS sections – 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 191(2) (rioting), 299 (deliberating outraging religious feelings), 324(4) (destruction of property), 333 (trespass), 351 (2) (threat), and 352 (intentional insult).
However, police have yet to make any arrests.
‘Misbehaved with children’
Pastor Rajesh Bhoomi said that the mob did not even space children. “They misbehaved with the children too. They slapped their heads and asked them why they participated in this prayer. They told them to never take part in Sunday prayers in future,” he said.
Describing the sequence of events, Deeksha Paul, wife of Pastor Rajesh Bhoomi said, “When they kept banging on our door, I finally opened it and asked them what’s the matter. And without even talking to me, they just barged inside and started accusing us of religious conversion…I told them whatever problem you have with us, we can sit and discuss it. But they did not listen to me. Instead, they started shouting at us. They said that people from our faith drink blood and our women do not apply sindoor. I told them that whatever I do in my personal life is none of your business…after that, they vandalised our house.”
She further said that children saw their parents being beaten by the Hindutva mob. “They threw our laptop on the floor and thrashed all of us, especially women…all this in front of children. My daughter is just one-year-old and my son is six. Children of my tenants were also present there who are just two and five years old,” she was quoted by The Newslaundry.
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