A
50-year-old Christian convert in a remote town in India died after he and his
wife were reportedly forced to stand in a freezing pond for 17 hours because of
their faith.
According
to Global Christian News (GCN), residents of the tribal village of
Kubuaa were upset when, 10-years ago, Bartu Urawn and his family abandoned the
native religion — Sarna Dharam — and became Christians. As punishment for the family’s unwillingness
to denounce Jesus Christ, villagers forced Bartu Urawn and his wife into the
freezing pond for more than half a day. Bartu Urawn’s son, Beneswar, told the GCN that his parents were immersed in
the water from around 5 p.m. until 10 a.m. the following day. After suffering two paralytic attacks that
caused major nerve damage, Bartu Urawn died January 20, 2017. “All throughout the night, they were in the
cold water shivering and I, along with 15 to 20 villagers, were witness to the
brutality,” Beneswar Urawn said. “The
villagers kept asking my father if he is ready to forsake Christ and return to
the Sarna fold. He reiterated every
time, ‘I will not deny Christ. … I will continue to believe until my last
breath.’”
Beneswar
explained that his family was not the only one in the village that embraced
Christianity over 10-years ago, as nine other families also decided to put
their faith in Christ. But amid constant
demands that the families return to the indigenous religion, 7-families caved
to threats and renounced Christ. As a
majority of families converted back to the tribal religion, pressure increased
on the Urawn family. Beneswar said the
village came together like a mob, attacked his family, locked them inside their
home for hours and soiled the family’s drinking water.
Bartu
Urawn, GCN reported, was attacked by
villagers for the past 3-years because of his faith. It reached a boiling point last year, when a
group abducted him and forced him to attend one of their tribal worship
services. During the service, an animal
was sacrificed and the villagers forced Bartu Urawn to eat a portion of the
animal and drink fermented liquor. “They
told my father that now the demons will not let him live,” Beneswar Urawn said.
When
Bartu Urawn and his wife refused to deny their Christian faith, the angry
villagers tied him and his wife up and forced them into the frigid water. Beneswar Urawn said, “I was away and on my
return, they made me sit outside the pond and watch my parents die.”
After
subjecting them to the cold water all night, the mob of villagers reportedly
began beating the Christian couple. Beneswar
Urawn’s mother survived the assault, his father did not. And, rather than giving him the proper burial
and prayer service on their private property, as they requested, Beneswar Urawn
and his mother were forced to honor tribal tradition, which requires the wife
to serve food to the entire village.
Beneswar
Urawn said the police “did nothing” about his father’s death, but invited
villagers to “peace talks” where they instructed villagers not to torment the
Urawn family over their religion because it is a “personal matter.”
According
to the 2017 World Watch List from Open
Doors [https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/world-watch-list/] – a non-governmental organization
aiding persecuted Christians around the world – India ranks #15 in the list of
50-countries with the worst record on Christian persecution. Open Doors classifies the persecution level
as “very high” in India and says Christians are “regularly attacked by radical
Hindus” in the country. “The level of
impunity has gone up markedly, with communities of converts to Christianity
from Hinduism bearing the brunt of the persecution,” the Open Doors statement reads.
“They are constantly under pressure to
return to their old beliefs, and are often physically assaulted, sometimes
killed.”
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor,
Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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