By Jeremy Reynalds
Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
NEW DELHI, INDIA (ANS) -- When Laxmi Sovi, a Christian widow in India's Chhattisgarh state, heard her door opening one morning last month, she could not have guessed that by the next day she would be hospitalized and her home demolished.
According to a story by Morning Star News, three Hindu extremists identified only as Veeru, Chaytu and Mangru burst into Sovi's house in Kakadi Beda village, Kondagoan, at 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 24 and demanded that she and her children convert back to Hinduism. She refused and the three men left.
However, that night at about 11 p.m., the same Hindu nationalists forced their way into her house.
"They asked me why I converted to Christianity and left all the Hindu idols, and they also told me that I should reconvert to Hinduism or else be killed," Sovi said.
Sovi, who became a Christian four years ago, refused to renounce Christ. The Hindu extremists began beating her and her two children, threatening to rape her teenage daughter. The children managed to escape and hid in the surrounding jungle, but the men continued to assault Sovi while insisting that she deny Christ.
One of the men struck her on the neck with a club, and she collapsed in pain.
According to Morning Star News, she later took refuge in the jungle, where she hid for the rest of the night - with a fractured left hand, swelling on her neck and multiple contusions.
The next morning, Sovi returned home with area Christian leaders to find her house demolished. She received treatment at Rabindranath Tagore Hospital in Kondagoan.
"As her house was completely demolished, she is taking shelter at the house of another Christian in the area," Rev. A.K. Netam, an area pastor, told Morning Star News.
Mother, Daughter Dragged to Temple
A week before, in the southern state of Karnataka, Hindu extremists dragged another widow, along with her daughter, to a Hindu temple and beat her unconscious when she refused to convert back to Hinduism.
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Hindu extremists beat Christian widow Doddamma unconscious. (Morning Star News)
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The Hindu nationalists asked them who gave them permission to convert to Christianity and talk about Christianity with their neighbors, Surendara said.
They dragged Doddamma and her daughter, Laxmi, to a Hindu temple and tried to force them to convert back into Hinduism, but they refused to renounce Christ.
"The extremists beat, kicked and punched them with their hands for almost an hour and uttered foul abuse at them," Surendara, their pastor, said.
Doddamma lost consciousness, and her daughter was semi-conscious when neighbors found them lying on a road, reported attorney Moses Muragavel of the Karnataka Legal Aid Cell.
Morning Star News said Doddamma and Laxmi suffered multiple bruises and swelling and were hospitalized for three days.
"The extremists also looted Doddamma's house, stole their safe cupboard, clothes, ratio n card and all important documents, and further vandalized her house," Surendara said.
Police have registered a First Information Report against seven suspects under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, but no arrests had been made at press time.
In another incident in Karnataka, Hindu extremists attacked house church Pastor Parama Jyothi in Mobanahalli village, in Chitradurga District, on Aug. 11.
"At about 10 a.m., the extremists barged in while we were praying and started to beat me up," Jyothi told Morning Star News.
The Hindu extremists dragged him along a road, tearing his clothes until he was half naked. Jyothi's body was covered in bruises, and three front teeth were broken, according to Muragavel of the Karnataka Legal Aid Cell.
Church members took their pastor to a hospital, where he was treated for about a week.
Morning Star News said Jyothi submitted a letter to the Bejikere Police Station requesting protection, as the Hindu extremists had warned him that he should vacate his house and leave the village within a week if he continued to follow Christ.
"The extremists beat, kicked and punched them with their hands for almost an hour and uttered foul abuse at them," Surendara, their pastor, said.
Doddamma lost consciousness, and her daughter was semi-conscious when neighbors found them lying on a road, reported attorney Moses Muragavel of the Karnataka Legal Aid Cell.
Morning Star News said Doddamma and Laxmi suffered multiple bruises and swelling and were hospitalized for three days.
"The extremists also looted Doddamma's house, stole their safe cupboard, clothes, ratio n card and all important documents, and further vandalized her house," Surendara said.
Police have registered a First Information Report against seven suspects under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, but no arrests had been made at press time.
In another incident in Karnataka, Hindu extremists attacked house church Pastor Parama Jyothi in Mobanahalli village, in Chitradurga District, on Aug. 11.
"At about 10 a.m., the extremists barged in while we were praying and started to beat me up," Jyothi told Morning Star News.
The Hindu extremists dragged him along a road, tearing his clothes until he was half naked. Jyothi's body was covered in bruises, and three front teeth were broken, according to Muragavel of the Karnataka Legal Aid Cell.
Church members took their pastor to a hospital, where he was treated for about a week.
Morning Star News said Jyothi submitted a letter to the Bejikere Police Station requesting protection, as the Hindu extremists had warned him that he should vacate his house and leave the village within a week if he continued to follow Christ.
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