India

A Christian woman was beaten to death with a hammer and other weapons in central India after she abandoned Hinduism and turned to faith in Christ, several sources confirmed Wednesday.

Seven Christian families in eastern India’s Odisha state have been rendered homeless after Hindu nationalists pressured their village leaders to evict them for leaving Hinduism, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

Extremist Hindus in India’s Chhattisgarh state last week hacked to death a female relative of theirs because she left Hinduism to follow Christ, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

Lawmakers in India’s Rajasthan state are considering approving the type of anti-conversion law that has led to the intense persecution of Christians and other non-Hindus in Indian states that already have such legislation.

Eleven Christians in India’s Madhya Pradesh state have just been released from prison after being jailed in 2022 on baseless charges of forcing people to leave Hinduism for Christianity, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

A pastor in India’s Madhya Pradesh state spent three tortuous weeks in a harsh prison earlier this year after being falsely accused of forcing Hindus to become Christians, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.

Council authorities in India’s Chhattisgarh state have denied basic human necessities to 15 Christian families who refuse to renounce Christ and worship a local Hindu god, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

The International Christian Concern (ICC) humanitarian organization has reported that as many as 70 Christians in India’s Uttar Pradesh state remain imprisoned without trial for allegedly converting Hindus to Christianity.

A UK-based Christian advocacy organization has renewed its calls for India to revoke the harsh anti-conversion laws that have been abused by Hindu nationalist extremists to persecute Christians across the vast nation, Christian Today (CT) reports.

A pastor and his Christian brother in India’s Punjab state were severely wounded last week after a group of warrior Sikhs attacked them with swords on account of their faith in Christ, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. India ranks 11 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.

The International Christian Concern (ICC) aid and advocacy organization reported last week that its staff recently witnessed an attack on Christians in Chhattisgarh state in which Hindu extremists drove a community of 50 farmers and their families off their land. 

A pastor and his wife in India’s Madhya Pradesh state have each been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and a $300 fine after being found guilty of forcibly/ fraudulently trying to convert a Hindu couple to Christianity, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. 

The Religious Liberty Commission of Evangelical Fellowship of India (RLC) warns in a new report that Christians in India faced an “alarmingly steep rise” in violent persecution against them in the year leading up to the spring elections of 2024. The RLC gave its assessment in its latest annual report titled “Hate and Targeted Violence Against Christians in India, 2023.”

More than 20 Christians were injured, and five were arrested and imprisoned on false pretenses, after a mob of some 200 Hindus attacked their Methodist church in India’s Telangana state earlier this month, Open Doors reports.

A Christian couple in India’s Chhattisgarh state have had to leave their children with relatives and go into hiding after being attacked by neighbors who demanded they recant their faith in Christ, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. 

A court in India’s Madhya Pradesh state has sentenced a Christian couple to two years imprisonment for allegedly offering a job to a Hindu relative of theirs in exchange for his conversion to Christianity, UCA News reports.

In an effort to curb evangelism, Hindu lawmakers in India’s Assam state have passed a law criminalizing “magical” prayer for healing, Christianity Today (CT) reports. 

Authorities in India’s Assam state have fined two American Christians $500 each for allegedly violating their tourist visas by preaching the Gospel and leading people to Christ at various locations, Christian Today India (CTI) reports.

Hindu extremists in India’s Chhattisgarh state violently assaulted a Christian man and his father and brother last week after he refused to renounce Christ and return to Hinduism, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports. Christians in Chhattisgarh state have been increasingly violently targeted by Hindu extremists who, emboldened by the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, are seeking to impose their version of the religion as the dominant ideology in India.

Hindu extremists in India are continuing to persecute Christians in their zeal to ensure Hindu nationalism is the dominant ideology in this vast country: in a recent incident, a mob of Hindus in Chhattisgarh state attacked and hospitalized eight Christians who were on their way home from their weekly house church meeting, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.