News / India

India police detain three after mob torches church

Sunday, 06 March 2016 7:22 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 07 March 2016 9:07 AM ]

Indian policemen patrol along a street following violent caste protests in Rohtak in the state of Haryana on February 21, 2016. (AFP photo)

Police have detained at least three suspects after a gang attacked a church in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, officials say.

Chief Badri Narayan, a local police chief, said on Sunday that law enforcement agencies arrested at least three men over the attack, which took place in Kachna village near Raipur, the state capital of Chhattisgarh.

"A preliminary case has been registered against the miscreants for rioting and defiling a place of worship,” said Meena.

A massive manhunt is underway to detain other suspects believed to be involved in the assault, the police chief added.

Several women and children were injured after a group of about 50 men barged into the church during Sunday mass.

Local residents and witnesses said that the crowd of young men stormed into the church demanding that the Christian place of worship be shut down.

"About 40-50 people, who had covered their faces with cloth, attacked the gathering and damaged the chair and musical instruments," AFP quoted Shiv Kumar, a witness, as saying.

Some sources say that the assailants were furious because they had heard the church had been used to convert local villagers to Christianity.

Several churches have witnessed vandalism and arson attacks over the past months. Christians, who account for about 2.5 percent of India’s 1.2-billion-strong population, have condemned the attacks.

Indian Christian devotees offer prayers during a service at a church in the Indian city of Amritsar on December 25, 2015. (AFP photo)

A series of recent mass conversions of Muslims and Christians to Hinduism by Hindu hardliners have also raised concern.

Opponents have accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government of exploiting religious divisions. They say the tactic helped the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secure the largest election victory in three decades in May 2014.

Several incidents of anti-Muslim violence have fueled concerns as religious intolerance has been growing in recent years.

The prime minister has been urged to speak out on the case after colleagues in his party came under increasing pressure for appearing to downplay the crime.

However, Modi has recently appealed for religious unity, saying the nation would only prosper “when Hindus and Muslims unite and fight” against poverty.

India is a country of diversity, where Hindus form the majority of the population. India is also home to a large Muslim population, and sizable Christian and Buddhist minorities.

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