Around 30 fundamentalists belonging to Dharam Sena disrupted a prayer meeting being conducted at a Christian home in Bothli village, Gurur tehsil, Durg district of Chhatisgarh on 25 June 2006.

The incident occurred when the members of six Christian families in the village had gathered together for their weekly worship at the house of one of the believers. As the prayer meeting was going on, more than a dozen Hindu fanatics surrounded the house, shouting slogans against Christians. Then they barged into the house and started to attack all those present inside.

The attackers recklessly beat up the Christians. They also punched and kicked an eight- month pregnant woman who had to be rushed to hospital after she complained of terrible pain. Since the hospital did not have adequate facilities, the authorities expressed their inability to provide treatment to the injured woman, terming her injuries as 'internal'.

The police took advantage of the statement made by the hospital authorities that it was minor internal injury and refused to take action against the culprits as the injured woman was discharged from the hospital soon.

The Chhattisgarh Christian Forum, which has been protesting against the increasing violence against the Christian community in the state, protested against the manner with which the case of the injured woman was handled.

Arun Pannalal of the Forum said the Christian community particularly in the interior areas was feeling insecure because of the sharp rise in the incidence of violence against the Christian community. They feared that the state machinery was colluding with the perpetrators of such violence acts. Many Christian groups in the state along with the Congress Party’s youth wing, National Students Union of India and Brahman Samaj expressed their protest against the attack by Dharam Sena and demanded  immediate ban on the organization for trying to ignite communal tension in the state. The Communist Party of India called for a meeting to discuss the rapidly deteriorating law and order situation in the state in the light of the attacks on the Christian community.

Incidentally the six Christian families in the village had been receiving threats for the last one month from Dharam Sena to give up their Christian faith or face dire consequences. When some of the Christians reported the matter to the police and tried to lodge a complaint against Dharam Sena, its activists began to harass them. The police refused to act saying they had orders from the top not to take any complaints from the Christian community.

However when the local Christians approached the Superintendent of Police, he assured them that no untoward incident would take place against Christians. That assurance however holds no weight after the attack on the Christians on 25 June 2006.