Description

At Approximately 3.30 p.m., the pastor of the above church was on his way to the village shops when he came across a meeting held in the village by Buddhist monks from Ravana Balaya and a group of villagers. The meeting was being held to protest against Christians. A man from the meeting saw the pastor and identified him as a Christian pastor. Some of the Buddhist monks demanded the pastor to come up on stage. Fearing that he may be assaulted, the pastor fled from the area and made his way to the local police station. However, the Buddhist monks pursued him to the police station and falsely accused him of taking pictures and videos of the meeting. The pastor denied the allegations to the Officer in Charge (OIC). Subsequently, the pastor was instructed to go to his premises by the police officers.

17th June 2013

The pastor received a telephone call from the officer in charge (OIC) of the local police station that there was information of an attack on the pastor. At approximately 9 a.m., a mob of about 30 persons with 5 Buddhist monks surrounded the pastor’s premises, shouting threats against him. They demanded that the worship services should be discontinued. The presence of the police prevented the attackers from entering the premises. The police succeeded in sending the mob away. The pastor receives threats of attack almost every day.