KARNATAKA, INDIA (ANS) -- A pastor and his wife were brutally attacked and beaten up by a group of Hindu radicals at Mysore in Karnataka state, India, on Monday, December 14.

According to the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), the attack took place when a group of 10-15 men allegedly belonging to a Hindu radical group. Bajrang Dal, barged into the house of Pastor H.T. Manjunath (26) and began insulted him and his wife Saraswati (24) and then falsely accused them of forced conversion.

The source said that the radicals went on to brutally beat both the pastor and his wife.

According to the news source, Sister Saraswati sustained severe injuries in the attack and fell down bleeding.

It was known from the source that, under the instruction from these Hindu radicals, she was denied medical help.

Immediately after the brutal attack, Pastor Manjunath went to the nearest police station to lodge a complaint against the assailants but station officials, instead of taking actions against the criminals involved in the attack, registered a counter complaint against the pastor and his wife.

The news source said later that she was sent to the city jail while her husband was kept in another jail.

ANS has since learned that the police officials then sealed up the pastor’s house.

Later, GCIC was approached by a relative of the pastor’s wife to bail out his sister and brother-in-law from jail.

GCIC has now engaged a leading advocate to bail out the innocent pastor and wife and have asked Christians around the world to pray for this young couple who were recently married.

James Varghese is a reporter for Masihat newspaper in India, and is also a freelance journalist working for ANS.