Pastor in India Faces False Charge, Burned Church Building

Sikh retaliates for altercation with church member, sources say.

NEW DELHI (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – The wife of a pastor falsely named in a criminal case in India this week sought the arrest of a Sikh man suspected of setting their church building and residence ablaze on June 14, sources said. Pastor Prakash Singh, 46, fled his home in Amritsar District, in northwestern […]

Christian Families Hospitalized after Severe Assault in India

Assailants wield sticks, axes and sickles.

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – Nine tribal people in India have been released on bail after they sent 13 Christians to the hospital with severe injuries, sources said. The followers of traditional tribal religion were released on bail on June 15. The Christian families, who had remained away from the village fearing another assault, dared […]

‘Cow Vigilantes’ Get Catholics in Prayer Arrested in India

Rajasthan state’s new ‘anti-conversion’ law brazenly abused.

NEW DELHI, June 4, 2026 (Morning Star News) – Catholics in India arrested in May under Rajasthan’s new “anti-conversion law” are still trying to obtain bail from the state High Court after lower courts denied their petitions, sources said. Their arrests followed a disruption of their Mass by “cow vigilantes” – self-styled protectors of cows […]

‘Sacrilege Law’ in Punjab, India Further Threatens Christians

Non-bailable offenses, officer immunity alarm community leaders.

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – Thanks to misuse of a law against “outraging religious feelings,” a Christian pastor in Punjab state, India still cannot return home. His church is shut. He survives on daily physical labor, and some months there is not enough money to feed his family or pay his children’s school fees. A […]

Tribal Men in India Assault Pastor, Family for their Faith

False charges of fraudulent conversion filed against him, he says.

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – Two men of traditional tribal religion in central India on April 13 assaulted a pastor and his family for their Christian faith in an attempt to chase them from their land and home, sources said. In a village in Chhattisgarh state’s Sukma District, the two men came with a mob […]

Chhattisgarh, India Governor Signs Harsh Anti-Conversion Law

Christians protest that it legally sanctions persecution.

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – The governor of Chhattisgarh state, India on April 7 signed legislation against forcible conversion that is harsher than similar laws that authorities and vigilante groups have used to falsely accuse Christians, sources said. In one of the states of India where Christians are most persecuted, Chhattisgarh Gov. Ramen Deka gave […]

Anti-Christian Hostilities in India Increase over Prior Years

EFIRLC report shows continued spike in attacks.

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – Hostilities against Christians increased in 2025, with 747 incidents of violence, intimidation and discrimination marking a continued rise over prior years, according to the Religious Liberty Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFIRLC). The figure represents a significant increase over the 640 incidents recorded in 2024 and over five […]

Pastor Beaten Unconscious in Attack in Central India

Hindu nationalists assault women and children at worship service.

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – Hindu nationalists in central India last month led a mob that assaulted Christians at worship in a house church, including women and children, and beat the pastor unconscious, sources said. Pastor Ramesh Barela, 42, went to the house of Naval Singh to lead the service in Kotwara village, Khandwa District, […]

Christians in India Told to Convert to Hinduism for Burial Permission

Body lies in mortuary since Feb. 24.

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – Tribal villagers in India have prevented Christians from burying the body of a woman who died on Feb. 24, saying it would defile their land and deities. As the body of tribal Christian Sambai Mandavi still lay in a hospital mortuary, villagers demanded her family undergo forced reconversion to Hinduism […]

Three Christians, including 15-Year-Old Girl, Slain in India

Tribal relatives believed their faith caused illness in family.

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – Tribal relatives killed three members of a Christian family in India’s Odisha state last month, leaving three children, including a preteen and a teenager, orphaned and forcing them into hiding, sources said. Jitendra Soren, 35, his wife Malati Soren, 32, and their 15-year-old daughter Sasmita were killed on Jan. 25 […]