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UPDATED NEWS :>
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Veiled men attacked a pastor on Sunday after the worship service, injuring the pastor who received nine stitches on his head and still in the hospital in southeast coastal state of Andhra Pradesh.
According to Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), the attack took place when Pastor Vanamala Parishuddam, his family and few believers were returning home after the Sunday service around 11.45 a.m. on Sunday from Yellareddygudam village, Narketpalli Mandal, Nalagonda district, Andhra Pradesh.
The report said four veiled radicals on two motorcycles stopped the Pastor on the way and started beating him with the wooden sticks. Few believers who accompanied the Pastor ran away. Pastor Vanamala was profusely bleeding and collapsed on the spot, GCIC stated.
GCIC said that after seeing the profuse bleeding of the pastor, the radicals ran away from that place and the Pastor’s wife and other two believers carried the Pastor to Kaminani Hospital, near Narketpally, an administrative division in the district. The doctors recommended the Pastor to go to a bigger hospital in Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh. The pastor was admitted to Gandhi Hospital; there he had 9 stitches on his head. Again the Pastor was redirected to get admitted at Kaminani Hospital - another Hospital in the city.
Pastor’s condition is very serious and he is still under medical treatment in the hospital, GCIC, Christian advocacy group and the voice of the persecuted India Christians reported.
Pastor Vanamala’s bother lodged a complaint against the radicals at Narketpalli Police Station on Monday, no arrest have been made so far.
According to GCIC, the 40-year-old Pastor Vanamala Parishuddam of Gospel Ministry has been ministering in Yellareddygudam Village for the past 4 years. About 30 families gather for the Sunday services. Pastor and his wife Prasanna are blessed with two children.
Bangalore-based GCIC has requested believers to pray for Pastor’s early recovery.
According to Compass Direct, anti-Christian sentiment has fueled persecution in Andhra Pradesh for the last five years.
The state has witnessed three brutal murders of Christian workers since 2005. The body of a 29-year old pastor, Goda Israel, was found with stab wounds on Feb. 20, 2007 in a canal near his house in Pedapallparru village in Krishna district. In May 2005, two pastors, K. Daniel and K. Isaac Raju, were killed near Hyderabad, the state capital. Daniel went missing on May 21 and Raju on May 24. Their bodies were found on June 2 of that year.
Most recently, suspected Hindu extremists burned down a newly built church building of the Best Friends Church in Mahasamudram area in Chittoor district on Aug. 20. On Aug. 1, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council or VHP) attacked Christians in Mahabubnagar district, accusing them of forceful conversion; they forced the Christians to wear tilak, a Hindu symbol on the forehead, and threatened to kill them if they went ahead with church construction.
According to 2001 Census of India, a growing Christians make up 5 percent of the 76 million populations in Andhra Pradesh. Hindus make up 84 percent and Muslims account for 9 percent. |
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