Hyderabad Pastor "Attacked" By VHP Slips Into Coma

The Civil Liberties Committee demanded that the Telangana government order the arrest of the Bajrang Dal members who attacked a Christian evangelical priest at Tank Bund in Hyderabad on January 21, and punished according to Law. They also demanded a probe into the role of the Mahankali police in the incident as the victim of the assault allegedly went into a state of comatose a day after his release from remand.

Addressing a media meet at the NSS Centre today, Telangana State President of the CLC, G Laxman, State Secretary Narayana Rao, State Vice-President V Raghunath, and City President P M Raj, said that a fact finding committee which inquired into the incident found that some Hindu fundamentalists had attacked pastor Swamy at Tank Bund and injured him badly, and they had filed a false complaint in the Mahankali PS that the pastor was spreading his religious propaganda.

Based on this complaint, the cops took him to their barracks and detained him for hours without paying heed to the pastor's claim that he was beaten up badly by Bajrang dal activists and that he was feeling weak, they lamented.

In the afternoon, a friend of the priest went to the police station and requested the police to release him. The police released him after taking surety from his friend, who later admitted him to Hospital ICU, they said.

They said that the missionary had slipped into a coma due to trauma and that his condition was worsening. They demanded the Hyderabad Police and the State government take action against the attackers and bear the victim's medical expenses on grounds of "victim of religious violence".