A Pastor, his family and church believers beaten up in Tamil Nadu, India
By James Varghese
1/25/08 TAMIL NADU, INDIA (ANS) -- A Pastor, his family and two church believers were beaten up in Tharamangalam village, Salem, Tamil Nadu state on Friday January 18.
According to a news reported on the website www.persecution.in, this incident took place as Pastor Abraham (70) was arranging for a fasting prayer as usual on every Friday in the week at 10.00 am in his house church.
A person named Govindhan (one of his neighbor residing in the same area) and his group (members of Hindu radical group*) entered the pastor's house and attacked the pastor and his family members wife Sarah (Gomathi) 37, two sons Prakash (20) & Isaac (5) and daughters Lipna (17) & Ellen Grace (7). They were severely beaten up with rods, sticks and stones.
Soon after the attack, Pastor Abraham went to the nearby police station to lodge a complaint against these attackers. During that time the church believers came for the fasting prayer meeting without knowing what took place in the pastor's house. As they were about to enter the house those Hindu radicals Govindhan and his group attacked them and injured them.
Believers namely Ravi and Anaal sustained severe injuries. With the injury, they too went to the police station to lodge a complaint against these goons and the Police Sub Inspector enquired about the matter and finally filed a case against the radicals.
The pastor's eldest son Prakash who suffered head injuries, Ravi, a fractured hand and Annal, also head injuries, were all admitted to Mettur Dam Government Hospital and are still undergoing medical treatment in the Hospital.
Pastor Abraham has been working in this Tharamangalam area for over twenty years. About 30 people attend services at their home.
In the meanwhile, the police arrested 4 members including Murugan and Gunashekaran the same day.
* Name of the group not known.
