Seven women and a man were forcibly tonsured in an Orissa village five days ago for embracing Christianity, police said on Sunday.
Some 20 Christians, including the women victims and two infants, fled the village fearing more attacks on them.
The incident occurred in Kilpala village of Jagatsinghupr district on February 10, police said.
Police have registered a case and were pursuing the culprits, Superintendent of Police Dayal Gangwar said.
Some of the victims, who took shelter in Bhubaneswar, told reporters that they had converted to Christianity about seven years ago. But there had been no tension or ill-feeling in their village where about 250 families lived.
Problems cropped up recently when a young man and two daughters of a villager evinced interest in Christianity and attended Sunday worship.
"We were asked to reconvert to Hinduism or face dire consequences. When we refused, they threatened us including the pastor of the local congregation, Subash Samal, Nisha Samal, one of the tonsured women said.