West Bengal: pastor abducted mid-prayer; house church vandalized

According to accounts that WE News English (September 7) and News Karnataka (September 9) attributed to UCA News, about 25 people entered a Christian home in Nandapurya, West Medinipur, around 11 a.m. on Sunday September 6, where Pastor Sukhendu was leading a prayer service with believers from neighboring villages. Eyewitness Purna Hembram told UCA News the group threatened him and took him away. Victor Behera, state coordinator of the Bengal Christian Council, said Sukhendu was taken to a local Bharatiya Janata Party office, abused, forced to sign an undertaking not to conduct village prayer services, and pressured into a recorded statement calling Christianity foreign — then released late Sunday. Behera said lawyer Samarjeet Dey is helping with a police complaint.

The same morning, those reports said, about 125 people allegedly entered a Presbyterian house church in Rangilabasan, East Medinipur. Member Chhabi Das said most worshippers had already left; the attackers damaged the premises, broke a cross into four pieces, and assaulted host Tapan Samanta. Some women who intervened were taken to a police station and later released. Bengal Christian Council founding secretary Herod Mullick and Archdiocese of Calcutta chancellor Fr Dominic Gomes called for an impartial investigation, according to the same UCA-cited accounts.

The Indian Express reported on September 6 that some West Bengal Christian groups have suspended house prayers after recent disruptions, including burial and prayer-meeting confrontations in which conversion accusations often featured. This brief records the named September 6 claims and the leaders’ responses. Crowd sizes and the BJP-office detail are Behera’s and UCA’s reported claims. It does not treat them as a court finding, and it does not assert government sponsorship.