An annual report by the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI), a Protestant organization, recorded 327 violent attacks on Christians in 2020.
The report said the targeted attacks included five murders, 26 incidents of social boy-cotting and six incidents of churches being destroyed or burned.
“The incidents recorded are by no means an exhaustive list as many remain unreported and unrecorded even in normal years because of the fear of further atrocities,” Rev. Vijayesh Lal, EFI general secretary, said in the report published on Jan. 14.
“Christians, especially pastors in rural areas, were victims of violence and had their congregational prayers disturbed and places of worship attacked. Political excoriation, police impunity and vigilante groups on their trail marked the experience of many Christian communities in several parts of the country at the height of the Covid-19 spread.”