Christian leaders have urged the government in India’s Chhattisgarh state to act against those who attacked 16 Christian families and destroyed their houses for refusing to abandon their faith.

Even after a week, state police have not registered Christians’ complaint against the tribal group that attacked them on Sept. 22 and 23, said Pastor Moses Logan.

“Police refused to register a first information report and are forcing the persecuted to compromise with the perpetrators of the crime,” Pastor Logan told UCA News on Oct. 2.

A crowd of people opposed to indigenous people following Christianity vandalized 16 houses of tribal Christians in three villages — Kakrabeda, Singanpur and Tiliyabeda — in the state’s Bastar region.

“They also assaulted women and children, so many ran into the forest to save their lives,” the pastor said.