Kundapur, India - A church priest was assaulted in a hospital on the outskirts of the town on Monday, suspecting him of motivating conversion. Besides the priest, three of his accompanies were also assaulted.
Fr Silvester Pereira, the priest of Carmel Church at Katkeri near Koteshwara had been to a private hospital in Ankadakatte, seeking treatment to his cook Mukund on Monday morning.
However, some of the localites including one Venkatesh who were present there in the hospital alleged that the priest was there to encourage conversion, after they saw a copy of Bible in his hand.
This resulted in a verbal war between the members of either parties. The other group in the hospital assaulted Valerian D'Silva (65), assistant priest Joyson and another John Pradeep, besides the priest, stated a complaint filed in the Kundapur police station.
The injured are recovering at a private hospital in the town. Police have arrested one person in connection with the incident.