Police Watch as Mob Attacks 14 Christians in Chhattisgarh 

11/8/2024 India (International Christian Concern) — As police officers watched, hundreds of people attacked 14 Christians on Oct. 30 in Chhattisgarh, India, after they defied orders to abandon their Christian faith and harvested crops from a communal farm.

Several of the Christians, including two women, were beaten with wooden rods and suffered head trauma and broken bones. The mob also demolished the believers’ homes, destroyed the crops they had harvested, and injured a police officer who had tried to help. 

The violence occurred in south Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district. The area’s tribal population, known as Adivasis, are considered peace-loving people. However, they often attack those among them who have converted to Christianity. Local radical Hindu nationalists sometimes inspire these attacks. In June, a Christian woman was brutally killed in the same district by her Hindu nationalist relatives. 

Nagesh Micha, a Christian rights activist, questioned why the police failed to fulfill their duty and promptly act.  

“The police, which are supposed to uphold the fundamental rights of an individual, have allowed 14 people to be beaten in their presence,” Micha said. “This means there are higher authorities who are supporting the mobs.”