KOLKATA (The Thursday Times) — A mob of more than ten people, allegedly linked to the Hindu nationalist group Bajrang Dal, assaulted three Christian families over two days this week in Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal, beating them, forcing them through Hindu purification rituals and threatening to burn them alive if they went to the police, according to the families’ accounts and a police complaint.
The attacks took place in Patlapur and Dingal villages, in the Chandrakona police station area. Laxmi Mondal, 40, who converted to Christianity three years ago, said the mob entered her home on October 18 at around 3:30pm, slapped and struck her on the head until she lost consciousness, then disrobed her and forced her to bathe as what they called a Hindu purification ritual.
‘No Christian can stay in this Hindu locality’
The mob also attacked the homes of Mondal’s sisters-in-law, Bonosree and Saraswati Mondal, hitting them with an iron rod and stealing Rs 20,000 from Saraswati’s house, according to the police complaint. Bonosree’s 15-year-old daughter was strangled, the complaint says, and minor girls in the families were threatened with rape and abduction.
Mondal said the mob told her “no Christian can stay in this Hindu locality,” and that the families had received verbal threats for about a year before the attack. “We are still terrified,” she said.
When Mondal called police, officers arrived around 6:30pm but, she said, offered no protection and left soon after, which she believes emboldened the mob. It returned the next day and took Mondal, Bonosree and their husbands to a Durga Puja pandal in Dingal village, where all four were forced to offer pushpanjali, a flower-based Hindu prayer. On October 20, Mondal’s husband was taken to an unknown location and threatened with death unless the family renounced Christianity; he was released hours later, after which police were posted outside the family’s home.
An FIR, no arrests yet
Police filed a First Information Report against 13 people two days after the initial assault, citing criminal trespass, attempted murder, assault with intent to disrobe, theft, criminal intimidation and insulting a woman’s modesty. No arrests had been made as of the latest reports.
Mondal identified the attackers as residents of neighbouring villages associated with Bajrang Dal. Asked about the group’s alleged involvement, a senior police officer said only that the matter was “being looked into.”
Christian leaders in West Bengal say attacks on the community, including church disruptions and vandalism, have intensified since the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in the state. Christian organisations say they have documented at least 13 FIRs and more than 60 such incidents in the state, with action taken in few of them. Christians make up about 0.72% of West Bengal’s population, roughly 650,000 people, according to the 2011 census.∎
