A 16-year-old Christian boy in north India’s Bihar state is recovering after he was splashed with acid last week, resulting in burns that covered 60 percent of his body.
International Christian Concern (ICC) reports that Nitish Kumar was on his way to the market when the violent assault occurred.
The boy’s sister, Raja Davabi, told ICC that multiple people helped her bring him home.
“It was a horrifying scene of my brother,” said Raja, “I started yelling and crying looking at my brother. He was in terrible pain at that point and all that I could do is to share the pain by wrapping him in my hands.”
A local pastor helped Nitish go to a nearby clinic where he was treated. Then he was sent to a specialized burn unit in Patna for additional medical care.
The victim and his brother are active in their local church and have conducted daily prayer gatherings. The Christian community believes the perpetrator(s) who carried out the attack were anti-Christian activists within their village.
“This is very cruel of what happened to Nitish Kumar, it just terrified the Christian community in the region,” a local pastor told ICC. “There has been increased anti-Christian sentiment, and attacks against Christians in the district are increasing, and these attacks are becoming more brutal, just like what happened to Nitish Kumar.”
Converted to Christianity Two Years Ago
Nitish’s father, Bhakil Das, said the family converted to Christianity two years ago after being delivered from an evil spirit. Since then, his sons became church leaders and led fellowship in their house, where dozens of people regularly attended prayer gatherings.
“I don’t understand why this happened to my son and who might have done it. We didn’t do any harm to anybody in our village or anywhere else,” Bhakil said while overcome with emotion. “My heart pains when I see my son.”
Please continue to pray for all the Christians suffering from persecution throughout the world and for God’s protection to comfort and encourage them.
India is ranked 10th on Open Doors’ 2021 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution.
This story first appeared on 1.cbn.com