Pastor attacked in Andhra Pradesh State, India

By James Varghese, Special Correspondent in India for ASSIST News Service

HYDERABAD, INDIA ANS — A pastor was attacked during a worship service at Warangal in Andhra Pradesh state, India, on Sunday, September 13, 2009.

According to news reported on the website — www.christiancouncil.in — the attack took place during a worship service at a house church called Opier Ministries Evangelical Church.

The website reported that Pastor Pilly Kumar was leading the worship service and at around 1:00PM, a group of ten Hindu radicals barged into the worship service and attacked Pastor Pilly.

According to the news source, there were around 25 believers present for the service at the house church. It was reported that it happened that after the Hindu radicals disrupted the worship service they caught hold of the pastor and manhandled him.

It was reported that that as the Hindu radicals tried to beat the pastor up, the believers present tried to rescue him and then drove the attackers away. The website said that the attackers destroyed the Church name board in front of the church.

The website said that at around 4:00 PM, the pastor, along with the church members, went to the local police station to file a complaint against the attackers who also arrived at the police station at the same time.

The Police officer then told off both the groups, the attackers for taking law into their hands and the pastor for using the loud speaker and causing inconvenience to the people living around.

The website said that the pastor, however, insisted on filing a complaint against the culprits, but the police officer refused to accept it. The All India Christian Council aicc is now assisting the pastor in filing the case.