A pastor in northern India, who was beaten and paraded through streets with his head half-shaved as crowds called for him to be cut to pieces, said he is thankful that he was counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ.
On 29 January, Hindu extremists posing as policemen picked up Avdhesh Savita, a 35-year-old father of four, from his home in Rendhar village in Uttar Pradesh state and took him to Orai, Jalaun District. They beat him, shaved half of his head, one eyebrow and one side of his moustache, and put him on a donkey as they led him in a procession through Orai. They and others in the frenzied crowd mocked him, falsely accusing him of forcible conversion.
‘I kept praying throughout the ordeal. I am not afraid of dying’, Savita said. ‘I thought, “This is the day when I will stand before my Saviour”. But I also thought of my children, they are young, and that was my only concern. In the Lord I am persecuted, I am thankful for this privilege.’ The attack was apparently instigated by Sangam Jatav, whose request for money for alcohol and tobacco had been turned down by the pastor.
