[Today's Prayer] Christians Brutally Attacked in Chhattisgarh, India... 13 Seriously Injured

The US-based Christian Daily International (CDI) reported on June 26 (local time) that an incident occurred in Chhattisgarh, India, where tribespeople practicing a local traditional religion attacked a Christian worship service with weapons, leaving 13 people seriously injured. The perpetrators are accused of looting livestock and property from the victims' empty homes while they were away from the village for medical treatment immediately after the assault. Furthermore, the police are facing criticism for downplaying the investigation by applying only minor charges instead of felonies such as attempted murder.

According to local sources, around 10:00 AM on May 31, a mob of 40 to 50 villagers raided a gathering of about 60 Christians holding a worship service in Sadrapal village, Sukma district, Chhattisgarh. Ten Christian families in this area, who had been using a mud and thatched-roof house as a church since 2018, were holding a Sunday service alongside believers from neighboring villages when they were subject to an unprovoked attack with weapons.

According to the testimony of victim Palo Madavi, the attackers blocked both entrances of the church before dragging the believers out one by one and indiscriminately beating them with wooden sticks, axes, and sickles. Afterward, the rioters entered the church and continued the mass assault using curtain rods as weapons, sparing neither infants nor the elderly in their 70s.

(Omitted)

During the assault, the attacking villagers stole offering money that the believers kept between the pages of their Bibles, tore the Bibles, threw them on the ground, and trampled them, displaying blatant religious hostility. The victims expressed great frustration, calling it a symbolic event that demonstrates the severity of Christian persecution in India.

Villagers are citing a land ownership dispute as the background for this attack, as Hunga Madavi, one of the victims, had been in conflict with relatives over his grandfather's inheritance. However, the victims countered that the land dispute was merely a superficial excuse and that it was actually a planned religious crime aimed at completely expelling Christians from the village. In fact, Christians in the village have suffered severe religious conflict and social ostracization for several years, including being cut off from using the public well and electricity, and being excluded from government food rations.

(Omitted)

Following the victims' complaints, the police launched an investigation, identifying 10 perpetrators on charges of assault, unlawful assembly, and rioting with weapons. The police arrested nine of them, but all were released on bail shortly after on June 15. Arun Pannalal, president of the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum, strongly criticized the police for downplaying the case by applying only minor assault charges instead of religious hate crime or attempted murder charges, despite the severe bloodshed at the scene.

The international community is expressing concern over structural violence against religious minorities in India. According to Open Doors' 2026 World Watch List, India ranked 12th among countries where it is hardest for Christians to live. The Religious Liberty Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of India reported that there were 747 hostile crimes against Christians across India in 2025 alone, pointing out that the lukewarm response from judicial authorities is virtually condoning the violence.

Source: Christian Daily

Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Matthew 10:21-22)  

God our Father, we hear the news that indigenous tribespeople practicing a local traditional religion in the Chhattisgarh region of India attacked a Christian worship service, leaving Christians seriously injured and suffering great damage, yet the case has been downplayed and a proper investigation has not been conducted.

Please protect the local churches that are still keeping their faith in Chhattisgarh, a place filled with hostility toward Christians hidden behind the superficial excuse of a land ownership dispute. Touch their wounds and pain, and allow new faith to grow upon them.

In the name of Jesus, let all spiritual veils and coverings that blind the eyes and ears of the people of India, preventing them from realizing what the truth is and what can truly save them, be completely stripped away. Please grant a spirit of honesty to the police and judicial authorities so that a proper investigation and response can be made.

Even if they are hated because of the name of Jesus, please grant a steadfast faith to the Indian church to endure to the end. Fill them with the heart of Jesus, who desired the salvation of the Jewish people even while hanging on the cross, so that they may embrace all nations within India with love and pray even more for their salvation.

We desire that the global church would go beyond simply worrying about this bleak situation and reality, and instead unite in prayer for God's salvation to come upon all nations in India and for God's work to advance. Please receive and use the prayers of the global church so that Jesus' forgiveness and the gospel of the kingdom may be witnessed throughout the land of India.

Through this, let God's love overflow among all nations in India, and let one million young missionaries who dedicate their lives for the sake of Your kingdom be sent out to the nations!