Eight Christians in India’s Madhya Pradesh state have been attacked and taken into police custody in the past week. In all of these attacks, radical Hindu nationalists used false allegations of forced religious conversions to justify their assaults and land these eight Christians in jail.

In one incident, Pastor Rahul Para was arrested by police after he was accused by radicals of engaging in forced religious conversions. According to local sources in the Jhabua district, Pastor Para was arrested in the middle of the night and his wife and children were forced to vacate their rented home. As a result, Pastor Para was jailed in the local police station as his wife and children were left with nowhere to go.

In another incident, Pastor Pascal Vadakhiya, also from Jhabua, and three other Christians were attacked by militants after they were found carrying Bibles. According to Pastor Pascal, a gang of radicals, led by Khower Singh, stopped Pastor Pascal and the other Christians while they were traveling by motorbike. When the radicals discovered their Bibles, they beat the four Christians and accused them of engaging in forced religious conversions. The Christians were then handed over to police and were detained for two consecutive days.