On 1 December, tribal animists in eastern India surrounded a church building with axes, threatened to kill the Christians inside and later burned down the thatched-roof structure.
The attack by hardline animists in Perigaon village followed raids on Christians’ homes five days earlier to seize and burn Bibles. The police had not been called as the area has no mobile phone coverage.
The assailants surrounded Pastor Bibudhan Pradhan and his wife as they were trying to return to their home in another town.
