Christians Driven from Homes in India Threatened with Death

Scar on one of the Christians assaulted in Durandarbha village, Sukma District, Chhattisgarh state, India on April 24, 2025. (Evangelical Fellowship of India)

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – Villagers practicing tribal religion who assaulted Christian families and drove them from their homes in central India for practicing their faith have threatened to kill them if they return, sources said.

In Sukma District, Chhattisgarh state, the Christian families were assaulted, threatened and forcibly expelled from their homes for their faith on April 24. About 45 members from 10 Christian families fled Durandarbha village, in Konta tehsil, and scattered to nearby hills and forests. They spent the night in the open air before taking refuge at a church in Chintalnar, 11 miles away.

On April 28, the Christians sent two women to Durandarbha to gauge residents’ attitudes. They returned terrified, reporting the villagers had threatened to kill them all if they returned still following Christ.

“Leave Jesus Christ and only then enter the village,” they were told, according to Hirma Markam, who was helping to care for the Christian families in Chintalnar.

On April 29, they received news that the home of one of those who fled, Mediyam Lakhma, had been destroyed by fire. The perpetrators remain unidentified, but “it seems obvious that the villagers have done it,” Markam said.

Santosh Markam, another helper, added, “The families had to flee towards the hills and some towards the forest with women, children and elderly to escape the fury of the villagers and have not returned to their homes since.”

One of the assaulted families, including three children, remained in the village, said Kunjam Bechem, one of the expelled Christians.

“The Christian and one of his [minor] sons were severely assaulted, and the family has been under house arrest since by the villagers,” Bechem told Morning Star News.

Summoned and Ambushed

The villagers had summoned 11 families to a meeting on April 24. When the Christians gathered as instructed, about 60 villagers armed with thick wooden sticks surrounded them and began challenging their faith.

They harshly demanded the Christians renounce Christ, but the families remained steadfast, providing explanations for their belief.

“We were dying in our sickness, and you did not bother about how we lived,” a Christian woman told the villagers, according to Bechem. “Now that Jesus has healed us and we are living a healthy life, our health and peaceful lives bother you, and you come to question our faith.”

The verbal confrontation quickly escalated to physical violence, with villagers attacking indiscriminately.

“They showed no mercy to elderly, women and children,” said Hirma Markam. “The assault was ruthless.”

The villagers proceeded to raid the Christians’ homes, searching for Bibles and important government documents that established their identities, and subsequently burned them.

“Some men entered our homes and seized our Bibles, posters that had Bible verses, our bank documents, our ration cards [which provide access to monthly government food rations], my Aadhaar card [a biometric identification document], gathered them together, and burned them,” said Padaam Hidma, who supports five dependents.

The Christians were beaten so severely that they fled toward the hills and forests, pursued by their attackers.

“We all got scattered – some took shelter in the hills and some in the forest,” Bechem said. “It was only the next morning that we all met at village Chimli, about three miles from Durandarbha, and headed towards our church in Chintalnar, nine miles beyond Chimli, and reunited.”

On April 25, the Christians approached the Jagargunda police station, eight miles from Chintalnar in the forest, to report the assault. Police escorted the Christians to a government hospital for medical examination on April 26.

Three minors, nine women, and six men suffered brutal assaults, according to Bechem.

The Christians did not receive a copy of their complaint, nor were they informed whether formal charges had been filed against their attackers.

“The police advised us not to return to the village immediately but to let the matter settle,” Bechem said.

Police summoned the attackers to the station and issued verbal warnings, Bechem said. The Christians were later informed that the villagers had been cautioned that repeat offenses would result in severe legal consequences.

The Christians also filed a complaint with the collectorate, but “police did nothing yet and no arrests have been made,” Santosh Markam said.

The 45 members from these 10 families continue to take refuge in the makeshift church.

When Morning Star News contacted Hirma Markam on May 8 inquiring about the Christians’ condition, he mentioned that rain had fallen twice and that the church roof of hay and wooden logs was leaking.

“It has been so hard for the Christians to stay dry and safe on rainy days all night,” he said.

Prior Violence

Bechem and his wife Kamla, who now have a 5-month-old baby, have practiced Christianity for three years.

“The villagers have never had a problem with our faith before,” said Bechem, who owns agricultural land in the village, “but they have suddenly gone to the extreme of assaulting us to death,” he added.

Some community members have practiced Christianity for five years, others like Bechem for three years, and some for two years.

Bhima Sodi, a Christian leader in the Sukma area, revealed that the Durandarbha incident was not an isolated case of expulsion. On April 12, seven Christian tribal families comprising 36 people were expelled from village Karigundam, under Kistaram Police Station jurisdiction in Sukma, 21 miles from Durandarbha.

During a village council meeting attended by about 2,000 villagers from eight villages, 15 Christian families from Karigundam were pressured to abandon their faith.

Seven families gave into the pressure “for fear of losing their home, livestock and work,” while eight families remained resolute, refusing to renounce their faith, according to Sodi.

Following their refusal, a unanimous decision was reached, resulting in the expulsion of these eight families from the village.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police and the Central Reserve Police Force of India (CRPF) visited the village on April 14, after social media coverage brought the incident to the authorities’ attention.

Reports indicate they confronted the village council leaders regarding the unlawful resolution and warned of legal consequences for future similar actions. They also ensured the Christians recovered their belongings.

Both Karigundam and Durandarbha are located in Sukma District, which has an extremely low population density of 45 persons per square kilometer. Forests cover 65 percent of the district’s area, and nearly 85 percent of the population is tribal, with India’s lowest literacy rate at 29 percent.

Christian support organization Open Doors ranks India 11^th on its 2025 World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most severe persecution. India stood at 31^st place in 2013 but has steadily fallen in the rankings since Narendra Modi came to power as prime minister.

Religious rights advocates point to the hostile tone of the National Democratic Alliance government, led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which they say has emboldened Hindu extremists in India since Modi took power in May 2014.

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