Tribal Christian families in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh have been passing days in hardship after they were expelled from their village by other villagers allegedly linked with right-wing Hindu groups. Expelled Christians alleged they faced increased hostilities and persecution from religious radicals for their faith before being made homeless earlier this week. Lachhan Dugga from Huchadi village in Kanker district is among those driven out of their village in Bastar region, infamous for Naxalites, the armed Maoist insurgents fighting government forces.
Dugga said he and six family members became Christians a few years after he was cured of ‘bad stomach pain thanks to Christian prayers. “Now, we have been driven out of home for our faith in Jesus,” Dugga told on June 18. He said that the village head led a mob that locked their home and ordered them to leave the village on June 16. “They threatened to kill us if we returned to the village without renouncing Christianity,” he lamented. The family has moved to a house of a relative in another village, abandoning their house and one hectare of farmland. Parameshwari Kanwar, another family member, said the mob chased them to a public road half a kilometer away after they refused to leave and dumped their belongings. “We have lodged a complaint with the local police, but we are not getting any help,” she told UCA News, adding that two more Christians in the village were also expelled on June 18. “Now our village is Christian-free as a two-member family, the last among the six Christian families was chased away from it on June 18,” she added.
Spanish bishops speak out after leaks of their meeting with Leo XIV
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