19 Jul. 24: In a shocking incident in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, a group of Hindutva activists reportedly stormed into the home of Deeksha Paul during a Sunday prayer gathering, assaulting attendees, including women and children. The assailants kept banging on the door and finally forcefully entered the house, vandalized a Christian cross, a prayer room, and a bedroom, while making derogatory remarks against the Christian faith. They accused the family and their guests of engaging in forced conversions.
The incident, which occurred despite no evidence of religious conversions taking place, has sparked outrage. Mr. Ajay Singh, SSP of Dehradun, confirmed that no illegal activities were happening at the premises and also no religious conversions were taking place. An FIR has been lodged against 11 individuals involved in the attack.
The 11 accused identified are Devendra Dobhal, Bijendra Thapa, Sadhir Thapa, Sanjeev Paul, Sudhir Paul, Dhirendra Dhobal, Arman Dhobal, Aryaman Dhobal, Anil Hindu, Bhupesh Joshi, and Bijendra Singh. Also, Devendra Dobhal, who claims to be a former army man and RSS member.
Deeksha’s husband, Rajesh Bhoomi, a pastor, recounted the harrowing experience: “They misbehaved with the children, slapped their heads, and threatened them against participating in future Sunday prayers.”
Currently, police have not made any arrests, but investigations are ongoing into the disturbing incident that has drawn condemnation from various quarters. The local community and civil society organizations are calling for swift justice and action against the perpetrators to ensure such acts of violence and intimidation are not repeated.
