Christians Assaulted and Paraded Semi-Naked by Hindu Activists in Madhya Pradesh Village

BURHANPUR, Madhya Pradesh, June 25, 2025: A group of right-wing Hindu activists assaulted four Dalit Christians, paraded them semi-naked, and forced them to bow before a Hindu deity on the night of June 22 in Nepa Nagar, a village in the Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh, alleging forced religious conversion. The victims were attacked in the house of a local pastor, and the incident has sparked outrage among Christian leaders who are now demanding urgent legal action against the activists.

According to Pastor Gokhariya Solanky, nearly 150 Hindu activists stormed into his residence, where they brutally assaulted him and three others. 

“They undressed the three men to their underwear, used abusive language, and paraded them through public roads,” Solanky told UCA News on June 25, a day after submitting his formal complaint to the district police and administrative authorities.

"The attackers then took the victims to a local Hindu temple and coerced them into bowing before the idol of a Hindu deity. They accused them of attempting to convert Dalit Hindus to Christianity and handed three of them over to the police. They also released one man after discovering he was connected with some members of the group, Solanky said.

The arrested individuals were presented before a local court on June 24 and remanded to jail. Legal efforts are now underway to secure their release.

Christian leaders allege that fabricated accusations of religious conversion are frequently used as a weapon against Christians in the region, particularly those working with Dalits and tribal communities. 

Solanky claims the police not only failed to protect the victims but also actively sided with the assailants. The wives of the victims, in a written complaint to district officials, named 12 of the alleged attackers and accused them of coercing a Hindu couple at the scene into giving false testimony of conversion attempts. 

Pastor Solanky warned that if justice is not delivered promptly, the Christian community in the area will pursue public demonstrations and further legal recourse.

Christians constitute only 0.27 per cent of Madhya Pradesh's 72 million population, where Hindus form the majority, including over 21 per cent from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Source: UCA News