2 Bible Students Beaten During Outreach in Critical Condition*

Five Bible college students were beaten by a group of Hindu militants
while sharing the Gospel on the streets of a local village in India.

Wed, Feb. 21, 2007 Posted: 09:12:11 AM EST

Five Bible college students were beaten by a group of Hindu militants
while sharing the Gospel on the streets of a local village in India.

The students were attacked while on a routine evening outreach in the
central state of Maharashtra where they gave out Gospel tracts entitled
“How to Know God,” reported Gospel for Asia on Tuesday.

Two of the students are in critical conditions after Sunday’s beating.

The attack reportedly began when five young extremists threatened,
“We’re going to kill you,” and began beating the young students. Forty
more militants were said to have joined in the attack on the five
Christian young men.

According to GFA, doctors had refused to treat the seriously injured
students until the police filed a report. The students were eventually
admitted for care after the police report was completed.

Two of the students remain in critical conditions with serious head
injuries and bleeding.

“Unfortunately, attacks like these are becoming an almost daily
occurrence,” said GFA president K.P. Yohannan, in a statement.

India’s population is composed of 80.5 percent Hindus, 13.4 percent
Muslims, and 2.3 percent Christians, according to the CIA World Factbook.

Hindu hard-liners have passed anti-conversion laws in several states in
India that would make proselytizing and conversion illegal. Also, there
are reports of many Hindu extremists groups using threats and violence
to force Christians to reconvert back to Hinduism.

“Please pray that these young Bible college students will heal quickly,
and that they will be encouraged,” urged Yohannan. “Also, pray that the
anti-Christians who beat the students will be saved.”