A Hindu extremist mob in northern India last month assaulted two Christian couples and an attorney for several hours, accusing them of forced conversion, sources said.

In Harayana state’s Titoli village, five miles from the city of Rohtak, the mob forced one of the Christians, a pastor, to set fire to a heap of Bibles while the Hindu extremists recorded videos that immediately went viral, resulting in 32 complaints to police.

Pastor Jehovah Das, 65, and Vinod Masih, 42, along with their wives had been invited to a Christian family’s home in the village to pray and bless the arrival of their second child on Nov. 7, sources said.

About 10 to 12 members of the Arya Samaj (Noble Society), a Hindu reform movement, found out about the Christians’ visit. They phoned several of their associates and gathered a mob of about 50 people that barged into the house.

“They began to beat us with slaps, punches, elbows, kicked us with their legs and held us hostage,” Masih told Morning Star News, adding that they beat the Christians from 10:30 a.m. until 3 p.m.

The Hindu extremists, whose number had then reached 80, searched their car, pulled out all Bibles and tracts and cast them onto the ground into a heap. They shot videos that showed the two couples, disoriented and in shock, forced to repeat that they intended “conversion” in the village and that they would never return.

The mob kicked the Bibles and spoke disrespectfully about Christ, Masih said.

Pastor Das was made to write a letter of apology that the video shows in his hand. A member of the mob then took a bottle of flammable liquid from the hands of a boy standing with the mob and forced three of the Christians to sprinkle it on the Bibles and literature. After forcing Pastor Das to set the Bibles on fire, the mob then shouted praises to the Hindu god Rama.

The mob dragged the Christians to their car and locked them inside.

“We were locked in our car for two hours – we were not allowed food, water or to relieve ourselves during this time,” said Masih.

While held hostage, Masih’s wife Reena called attorney Satish Arya for help. Arya, who once belonged to the Arya Samaj sect, has been a practicing Christian for five years. He quickly drove 10 kilometers (six miles) to reach Titoli village.

“While on my way to the village, I called the police helpline and informed them about the hostage situation and requested that any inquiry against the Christians be taken up in the police station, and that they should not let the mob take the law in their hands,” Arya told Morning Star News. “Police assured me that they will arrive soon.”

When Arya reached the village, he saw that the Christians were gathered at one area and about 20 to 25 Hindu women were assaulting the two Christian women.

“They were slapping the Christian women, pulling their hair, punching them. The scene was terrible,” said Arya. “The Hindu men were assaulting the Christian men likewise.”

Arya stood at some distance waiting for police, but they did not arrive, he said. The mob called police, and responding officers soon arrived, he said.

One of the Hindu extremists noticed Arya and the words, “Jai Masih Ki [Praise the Lord]” written on his car’s back window, and about 12 of them approached and asked about his background. They quickly learned that he was a Christian.

Arya told them that he was an attorney and insisted that they take the Christians to the police station and let officers, rather than the mob, question them.

“I objected to their act of holding the Christians hostage for four hours and questioned their inhumane behavior,” Arya said.

Wearing his black court robe, he was dragged to the site where the other Christians were being beaten and was assaulted.

“They tore my black gown, my shirt and my innerwear,” he said. “They stripped my upper body and continued to beat me for 25 minutes, and that too in the presence of the police.”

The mob proposed that they put all five Christians in a car and set them on fire within, and Arya told them the law would not spare them for such a horrendous act. 

A man from among the Hindu mob somehow managed to set Arya free, and the attorney left and called his wife, asking her to bring him a fresh set of clothes.

Officers responding to Arya’s initial helpline call finally arrived, detained the Christians and took them to the police station, sources said. After Arya went to a doctor and received first aid, he then went to the police station.

“By the time I reached the police station, the Christians were pressured to give a written statement that they did not want to press charges against the mob and promised that they would not enter that village in the future,” he said.

Arya wanted to take legal action, but when he held a meeting with the host family in Titoli village, he learned Hindu residents had threatened to drive them from the area if they sided with the Christians.

“This family, though in faith for almost 18 years, came under pressure from the Hindu extremists,” Masih told Morning Star News.

The following day, about 80 Haryana pastors met with Arya and registered a police complaint against the assailants. They also submitted a written complaint on Nov. 10 with the Superintendent of Police demanding strict action against the perpetrators. Though the administration assured full cooperation and necessary action in the matter, no arrests were made and no action taken.

Arya gave statements to local media outlets, disclosing the hostage-taking and assault. Police summoned the Christians to the station and pressured them to reach a compromise with the assailants on Nov. 23, pre-empting any arrests of either party.

“The police came under obligation to act and called together the village council and the perpetrators,” Arya said. “The village head apologized for their action in writing, kissed the Bible and placed it on his head.”

Christians submitted 32 complaints in different police stations for hurting religious feelings after the video of the burning Bibles went viral.

Both couples were severely traumatized. Pastor Das left the district to reside with his children in Bangalore (officially Bengaluru), Karnataka state.

The hostile tone of the National Democratic Alliance government, led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, against non-Hindus has emboldened Hindu extremists in several parts of the country to attack Christians since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took power in May 2014, religious rights advocates say.

India ranked 11th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, up from 31st in 2013 before Modi came to power.