House Church in Rajasthan, India demolished by extremists

House of church demolished in India by 200 masked men.

UDAIPUR, RAJASTHAN, INDIA — Around 200 masked men demolished a building under construction belonging to the Catholic Church in Chavand, located in the Udaipur district of Rajasthan State, India, in the early hours of Sunday, August 5.

The attackers came by vehicles and totally demolished the building on at around 2 am.

The property belongs to the Catholic Diocese Society.

The Rt. Rev. Joseph Pathil, Catholic Bishop of Udaipur Diocese, said that they suspect that the radical Hindu group, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), was behind the attack.

“The building was being constructing as the residence of a priest. It was completely demolished,” said Bishop Joseph Pathil. “We have been also receiving telephone calls in the past warning us against going ahead with the construction of the building.

“A certain Hindu militant belong to the VHP along with up-sarpanch [leaders] of the village had earlier led the attack on a priest looking after the Chavand centre. The priest vacated the house by the force of those militants,” the Bishop continued.

Several times Christians in Udaipur were attacked by the Hindu radicals, accusing charges of conversion.

Some pastors and believers were attacked and handed over to the police during the month of April. More than 30 families had to flee the area when they were attacked and their homes destroyed.