Pentecostal Pastor Arrested in Karnataka
By Joseph C. DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent
KARNATAKA, India (Worthy News)– A Pentecostal pastor in Karnataka was arrested and charged with conducting false religious conversions on Sept. 26.
Pastor Shivanda Siddi, 45, was arrested under Section 295 of the Penal Code while holding a worship service at the Gnanodaya AG Church, according to the Global Council of Indian Christians.
According to GCIC, several Hindu extremists physically attacked Siddi during the service; they beat Siddi in front of his congregation for nearly half an hour, and then called police at the Yellapur station; the police arrested Siddi, five women and two girls.
During his arrest, Siddi was beaten again by the extremists while in the presence of the police; he was then charged and sent to Sirsi jail in Uttar Kannada.
In its 2010 bi-annual report on major incidents of anti-Christian violence, the Evangelical Fellowship of India recorded 106 incidents of persecution with one-third coming from Karnataka alone.
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