A group of Hindu extremists tried to kill a pastor and his wife in Northern India for preaching to the community.
The night of January 14 was a fateful one for Pastor Rakesh Babu of Uttar Pradesh state's Vyaspur village, Chandauli District in India. The pastor had just said his night prayers a little past 10 p.m. that night when eight Hindu extremists attacked him and his wife in their home.
According to the Christian Headlines, Pastor Babu was thrown to the floor and he and his 30 year old brother were beaten with wooden sticks. One of the Hindu extremists then choked him as the rest of the group cheered on the assailant and urged him to kill the pastor. An attacker had also slit his wife's throat.
"I did not see if they were carrying a knife, but the object used for slitting my wife's throat was done with a sharp object, and from the deep wound, it appears to be a knife," the 51 year old Pastor Babu told Morning Star News. "The moment they slit my wife's throat with the sharp object, she fell down unconscious."
Pastor Babu's brother, Anand lives in a separate house in the compound which shared a kitchen with the pastor's home. Anand was bringing the pastor some warm drinking water when the Hindu exremists attacked adn attempted murder on the family. As the pastor bled from the attacks, he fled into wet farmland, where he was followed and later fell. The Hindu extremists then struck him with sticks.
Pastor Babu's son, who was in Anand's house at the time, came towards the assailants and weeping, pleaded for them to stop hitting the pastor. As the son plead with the Hindu extremists, the pastor fled to a Christian home, where he hid from the attackers.
"If my son wouldn't have come, and I would have not escaped, they would have killed me," Pastor Babu said of the experience. "If I would have fallen unconscious in the muddy puddle, I would be dead, because they were chasing to kill me."
When the village people in Vyaspur heard the commotion and came out into the streets, the Hindu extremists retreated, but not without issuing verbal threats over leading church services. Pastor Babu lamented that his wife, Rehka was not able to receive proper medical care for her neck wound as there were no doctors available that night or the following day.
Pastor Babu also lamented the fact that the Indian police in Shahupuri refused to report the incident and declined to register his complaint. Instead, they directed him and his family to get first aid at the hospital. After receiving first aid, they headed to the Mughalsarai police station, where their complaint was initially declined as well.
"It was only when a senior officer came and scolded them that they registered our complaint," Pastor Babu recalled. "We were in very bad condition physically."
The officer in charge of the Shahupuri police post then arrived at the Mughalsarai police station, where police had yet to register the pastor's complaint. The officer had arrested two of the eight assailants, who were released the following day. Pastor Babu lamented further that the Indian police were biased, urging him to file a complaint over a land dispute instead of over religious persecution.
Pastor Babu concluded, "I knew we were not treated fairly, but I gave in and signed the document confirming the story."
