Between January and July 2025, the Evangelical Fellowship of India’s Religious Liberty Commission documented 334 incidents of systematic targeting against Christian communities across India, encompassing arrests, physical violence, threats, disruption of worship services, and denial of basic rights including burial. This sustained pattern of persecution reflects an alarming consistency, with incidents occurring every month and affecting Christian communities across 22 states and union territories.
The geographic concentration of violence remains deeply concerning, with Uttar Pradesh recording 95 incidents and Chhattisgarh 86 incidents together accounting for more than half of all documented cases. These states have emerged repeatedly as primary hot spots where Christian families face not only immediate violence but prolonged legal harassment under anti-conversion laws. The misuse of these laws has become a primary weapon of intimidation, with threats, harassment, and false accusations representing two-thirds of all incidents documented during this period.
Particularly disturbing are the 13 cases involving denial of burial rights, with 92% occurring in Chhattisgarh alone, where Christian families are prevented from honouring their deceased according to their faith even on private property. The systematic nature of this targeting is evident in timing patterns, with many incidents strategically occurring during Sunday worship services, suggesting organized monitoring and disruption of Christian religious gatherings.
The brutality of some incidents underscores the escalating nature of persecution. In July, six pastors in Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, were not only wrongfully detained but severely beaten with wooden batons inside Durg jail simply for identifying themselves as pastors during routine questioning. Despite documented evidence of torture, charges against the pastors remain active while no action has been taken against the attackers or jail officials responsible for the abuse.
These 334 documented cases likely represent only a fraction of actual incidents, as many go unreported due to fear of reprisals, intimidation by local authorities, or lack of access to documentation channels. The pattern reveals a coordinated effort to suppress Christian religious expression through both legal mechanisms and social pressure, creating a climate of fear that extends far beyond the immediate victims to entire communities.
The constitutional promise of religious freedom for all citizens demands urgent attention from government authorities, law enforcement agencies, and the judicial system to address these systematic violations and restore the rule of law that protects India’s religious minorities.
See full report here