Bengaluru: In another attack on the Christian community, a right-wing Hindutva group allegedly assaulted and robbed a family accusing them of converting their neighbors to Christianity in the Belagavi district of Karnataka. District police have reserved seven people in the case.

According to reports so far, the incident occurred on December 29 in Mudalagi in Belagavi when Pastor Akshaykumar Karaganvi was praying at his residence. Members of the Hindutva group broke into the house and asked them to stop their prayers. The activists accused the family of converting their neighbors while assaulting them.

Kavita, the pastor’s wife, lodged a complaint with the police, saying the activists had sprayed hot curry on Bharati Vyapari, one of the victims of the attack. She is treated for burns in a hospital in Belagavi. Another woman, Mahadevi Jogi, was also assaulted when the family tried to pacify the group. Kavita said prayer is something the family does every year after Christmas.

A case was registered by the police and the defendants – all residents of Mudalagi in Belagavi – were charged under Articles 143 (riots), 448 (trespassing), 323 (willfully causing injury), 392 (theft), 506 (criminal intimidation), and the Listed Castes and Tribes (Atrocity Prevention) Act.

The attack comes just days after a similar attack in Kunigal’s Tumakuru district, where women pushed back members of the Hindutva Bajrang Dal group who broke into their home accusing the family of conversion.

Posted on: Sunday January 02, 2022, 8:22 PM IST