Christian groups allege mob attacks on two West Bengal house churches

Christian representatives in India’s West Bengal state allege that two house-church gatherings were attacked within about 24 hours in mid-September. According to Bangiya Christiya Parisheba (BCP) and accounts carried by The Times of India and UCA News, on Sept. 19 a mob armed with iron rods and blunt weapons entered a residential prayer meeting at the home of Puja Satyaki in the Barrackpore / Mohanpur area of North 24 Parganas. Witnesses said Bibles and hymn books were destroyed, furniture was ransacked, and women worshippers — including Satyaki, Arpita Sardar, and Jhuma Jana — were beaten and abused.

On Sept. 20, worshippers said a group of roughly 50 people disrupted Sunday prayer at a house church in Dekhali Jalpai under Khejuri police jurisdiction in East Medinipur (Purba Medinipur). They said the group assaulted Pastor Chintamoni Midde and worshipper Bhagyadhar Jana and warned believers to stop church activity and leave. Victims and local sources told the outlets that the attackers claimed affiliation with Bajrang Dal. Those organizational links have not been independently verified in the cited reporting. The Times of India noted that police denied some allegations. Complaints were lodged in both cases, but the outlets report uneven confirmation of first information report (FIR) registration and of victims’ access to signed complaint copies. BCP founding secretary Herod Mullick condemned the incidents and criticized what he called administrative silence.