Indian evangelist suffers brain hemorrhage after being badgered for distributing Bibles

An Indian Christian suffered brain hemorrhage after Hindu extremists badgered him and took him to a police station for his role in the distribution of Bibles and Christian literature in Hyderabad, the capital city of the state of Telangana.

K.A. Swamy, 47, who works as a professor of engineering in the city, was taken by angry locals to a police station last Saturday after they found him distributing Christian literature near the Hussain Sagar lake. According to World Watch Monitor, he was near the Kattamaisamma Temple, which is dedicated to a local Hindu deity of Telangana. He was accused of trying to convert the people around the temple area.

He was released after six hours, but he suffered a brain hemorrhage on his way home. He fell into a coma, and his wife said there has been no change in his condition since Jan. 21.

Dr. Shaik Sardar of the Critical Care Department at Kamineni Hospitals told Morning Star News that his brain injury might have been caused by hypertension. He found no evidence of external injury to the professor.

"Most likely, it looks like a case of hypertension, because the bleeding is localized within the vessel distribution," Sardar said. "If it is some assault, the bleed will be diffused, you will have external injuries, but there are no such external injuries, and so the cause could be hypertension leading to that bleed," he added.

Sub-Inspector Narsimha Naik of the Mahankali police station said that there was no First Information Report filed against Swamy. He told Morning Star News that he explained to the people who brought the professor to the police station that distributing Bibles was not illegal as long as there was no force involved.

"They kind of dealt roughly with him before bringing him to us, asking provocative questions – 'How dare you distribute Bibles? Why are you distributing them on roads? Do it in your church.' This might have raised up his blood pressure rate," Naik said.

Swamy, a father of two, volunteers for Gideons International, a Christian organization that distributes free Bibles across the world. The president of the local Gideons group helped secure his release after Swamy called him from the police station.

The state government has promised to cover his medical expenses after local Christians went to the Home Ministry for help.