Christians flee into jungle to escape wave of anti-Christian riots
Hundreds of Christians in India are hiding in the jungle after being forced from their homes by a wave of anti-Christian violence in the run-up to Christmas.
Twenty villages were attacked by radical Hindu nationalists in the Narayanpur and Kondagaon districts of Chhattisgarh state.
The villagers were attacked last Sunday as they gathered for worship.
Many of them were expelled from their villages by the rioters, while some were assaulted and others had their belongings stolen.
Several churches were attacked and vandalised, and in one village the church was demolished.
Some of the victims were hospitalised as a result of their injuries.
The Christian villagers were targeted after refusing to convert to Hinduism, according to International Christian Concern (ICC).
The US-based group said that when some of the villagers turned to the police for help, they were told to fend for themselves.
One church leader who cannot be named for security reasons told ICC, "These incidents have shocked the entire Christian community in the state, and the sad thing is that the people in authority did not bother to help."
The church leader said that the attacks had brought back "traumatic memories" of the 2008 Kandhamal anti-Christian riots, also by Hindu nationalists, in which 39 Christians were killed and around 4,000 homes destroyed.
One witness of this month's attacks told ICC, "Small kids and women with their families were sitting in open places in biting cold, with no food or water, warming their hands with their breath."
ICC President Jeff King warned that Christians in India are coming under increasing threat.
"Christian persecution has skyrocketed in India since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP (Bharatiya Janta Party) took power in 2014," he said.
"With the goal to set up India as a Hindu nation, they have passed laws and enforced policies targeting Christians.
"The attacks this week are the result of this overarching hostility toward followers of Christ. It has created an increasingly dangerous climate for believers in India."
