Representative Picture
In a religious hate crime, fanatics linked to allegedly activist Hindutva groups threw acid over a 16-year-old Christian boy in Gaya, Bihar, India.
Names have been changed to protect privacy of boy and family and face not shown, but shared to reveal the grotesqueness of the attack. Warning, graphic picture below!
The attacks on Christians have been escalating over the last few years, especially in villages and rural areas after Narendra Modi took over reign in India, perhaps the fanatics feel empowered to have a pro-RSS leader as prime minister.
The16-year-old boy was attacked with acid last week in North India’s Bihar state, leaving him with burns covering 60% of his body.
The victim’s sister, told ICC (International Christian Concern) that the incident occurred at 6:30 am, when he left the house to go to market and instantly after leaving, he was ferociously attacked, and while screaming in agony, was carried back into their home by multiple people, with around 60% acid burns all over his body.
“It was a horrifying scene of my brother,” said his sister, “I started yelling and crying looking at my brother. He was in terrible pain at that point and all that I could do is to share the pain by wrapping him in my hands.”
With the help of the local Pastor, the boy was rushed to the nearby clinic where he received first aid treatment before being sent to a specialized burn unit in Patna, India.
While the motivation for the attack is yet be ascertained, the Christian community suspects that it is the work of anti-Christian activists in the village. Both the boy, (the victim), and his brother, are active members in the church and conduct daily prayer gatherings.
The victim’s father told ICC that his family converted to Christianity two years ago after being delivered from an evil spirit. His sons after that became active leaders in the local church and led fellowship in their house, where nearly twenty-five people regularly attended prayer.
The father also crying said to ICC,“I don’t understand why this happened to my son and who might have done it, we didn’t do any harm to anybody in our village or anywhere else. My heart pains when I see my son.”
Alocal Pastor requesting anonymity, said to ICC, “This is very cruel of what happened to Nitin* (name changed), it just terrified the Christian community in the region. There has been increased anti-Christian sentiment, and attacks against Christians in the district are increasing, and these attacks are becoming more brutal, just like what happened to Nitin*.”
Of note, there are 2% Christians in India, around 16% Muslims, and others are Dalits, Buddhists, Jains, Zoroastrians, Jews, atheists, amid the Hindu majoratarian country. Thus to feel so insecure if a Hindu converts to Christianity is unwarrented when at the same breath, the same people feel elated when Americans, Russians and others have converted to Hinduism. Religious freedom is enshrined in the Constitution of India.
USA, UK, and European nations give their people the freedom to believe in their faith and many even propagate their faith. The ISKCON movement is very evangelical in its spread throughout the world. Americans, Russians, and other European nations have embraced Hinduism, and they sure are not persecuted for it.
Today, in India when Christians gather on Sunday mornings to worship God, their church doors are rammed open, pastors and even congregation in the church are beaten, sometimes so badly that they break their legs, smash their churches and the Hindu radicals make reports to the police that these Christians are converting the people to Christ. Sometimes, a neighbor asks a Christian for a Bible and when they give it, they call the cops to report that the Christians are “trying to convert” them. Several Christians have been arrested on false FIRs such as these and it appears the police are in sync with the local religious fanatics.
People gather in a house for a prayer meeting and extremists barge in to stop them, declaring they cannot do that, as this is a Hindu country. (India is declared as a secular democratic republic by our constitution. We now ask, “Is not the law protecting Christians anymore? Today, hundreds of churches have been stopped and shut down. The Hindutva group barge in, demanded who is funding them.
During the 2008 massacre of Christians done by the Hindu radicals, a friend’s friend wife was pregnant and they cut open her stomach, killed her and her baby.
Insecurity and hypocrisy is rising amid the raging Kali Yuga rule in violence and bigotry in India. Must people accept Kali Yuga meekly or is God greater than every era in history? People must rise up and stop it!
Had to make it black and white because the original picture is ghastly
Update, the boy lost his life on Saturday night, September 25th, succumbing to the acid attack. May he find the greatest joy and peace in the afterlife.
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