Source:         www.assistnews.net

Date:            February 23, 2008

By James Varghese
Special to ASSIST News Service

KARNATAKA, INDIA (ANS) -- According to news issued by www.persecution.in, a pastor and a church member were beaten up and later arrested on February 12, in Mattahalli Village of Kollegela Taluk, Karnataka state, India.

The name of the pastor is Lawrence (48). He ministers a church called House of Prayer in Mattahalli Village, 110 km from Bangalore. About 45 believers gather for worship every Sunday.

The incident took place after Mahesh, a believer from the House of Prayer Church invited the pastor and a believer called Samuel, to his house for a prayer meeting which is located in a place called Rampure Hobli.

After finishing the time of prayer, the pastor and Samuel were having their food in a near by hotel. A man named Raju one of the members of a Hindu group called Rashtriya Swayamesevak Sangh (RSS) entered the hotel and accused the pastor of "forcefully converting" people to Christianity. Immediately he called other RSS members and around 50-60 people came to the hotel and they started beating up the pastor and Samuel and then took them to the nearby Rampura Police Station.

The radicals also went to one the believer's homes and made a person there write a false complaint of "forceful conversion" by the pastor and they forced the believer to convert to Hinduism. The police have filed a case against the pastor and the believer for forceful conversion.

The pastor and the believer were taken to jail and were released the next day.