Karnataka: Hindutva group assaults family for allegedly converting their neighbors to Christianity in Belagavi; 7 held

Bengaluru: In another attack on the Christian community, a right-wing Hindutva group allegedly assaulted and robbed a family accusing them of converting their neighbours to Christianity in Belagavi district of Karnataka. The district police have booked seven people in the case.

According to reports reaching here, the incident occurred on December 29 in Mudalagi in Belagavi when Pastor Akshaykumar Karaganvi was holding prayers at his residence. Members of the Hindutva group barged into the house and asked them to stop their prayers. The activists accused the family of converting their neighbours while assaulting them.

Kavita, the pastor's spouse, filed a complaint with the police saying that the activists splashed hot curry on Bharati Vyapari, one of the victims of the attack. She is being treated for burns at a hospital in Belagavi. Another woman Mahadevi Jogi was also attacked when the family tried to pacify the group. Kavita said that the prayer was something that the family did every year after Christmas.

A case was registered by the police and the accused – all residents of Mudalagi in Belagavi – were charged under Sections 143 (rioting), 448 (trespassing), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 392 (robbery), 506 (criminal intimidation), and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The attack comes just days after a similar attack in Tumakuru district's Kunigal where women fought off members of the Hindutva group Bajrang Dal who barged into their house accusing the family of conversion.