A mob of radical Hindu nationalists violently ambushed a congregation of 20 Christians on fabricated conversion charges on Feb. 10 in Maharashtra, India.

The incident occurred while Christians gathered in a shed used as a place of worship. Pastor Raj Uday was seriously injured in the attack, while other members of the congregation sustained minor injuries. The attackers later chased the 20 Christians out of the village.

Sources told International Christian Concern (ICC) that a mob of around 15 people carrying sticks and wooden clubs burst into the worship place and started beating the Christians. They targeted the pastor and brutally beat him while shouting hateful phrases at him. The mob accused the pastor of “spoiling Hindu people” by converting them to a “foreign” religion.

The mob later vandalized the church building and destroyed everything inside it, chased the congregation out of the church premises and the village. The mob strictly warned not to hold any Christian prayers in the church premises or in the village, with dire consequences.

The mob later went to the local police station and filed a complaint against the pastor and the church members. However, the pastor and the church members are staying in a neighboring village, fearing further attacks from the radical Hindu nationalists.

The BJP-led Maharashtra government enacted an anti-conversion law, passing the bill in both houses, becoming the 13th Indian state to enact such a law. Historically, whenever a state has the anti-conversion law in place, the incidents of violence against Christians spiked. The anti-conversion laws become handy to the right-wing Hindu hardliners to target and attack Christians.