In India's Rajasthan state, the Hindu nationalist government has closed a police investigation into a televised assault on Pastor Walther Masih a year ago on 29.04.08 after withdrawing the more serious charges against the accused.
The regime has declined to prosecute on the more serious charges against the 14 Hindu nationalists accused of attacking Pastor Masih with sticks and clubs and leaving him seriously bleeding in the capital Jaipur. The 14 of the 20 were charged with rioting, causing hurt, illegal entry and causing hurt, but did not include charges for religion-related offenses, which are punished more severely. Later, police added charges of hate speech, insulting a religion or religious beliefs, and making offensive statements in a religious place.
A representative from the Christian Lawyers Association (CLA) told the news agency that by failing to bring more charges for religious crimes, the state weakened the case against the accused.
The case, which clearly showed the extremists' false confidence in being able to attack Christians with impunity, according to the CLA representative, "will now be treated as petty offenses." (CompassDirect/Danish European Mission)
