In Tamil Nadu, a woman tried to self-immolate due to harassment by converted Christians and police inaction. The middle-aged woman poured kerosene on herself in protest against the police department’s apathy towards her complaints. She said that Christians in her village have been forcing her and her family to convert for the past 10 years.

Valarmathi is a resident of Karuppa Kudumban Pacheri near RS Mangalam in the Ramanathapuram district. She has been living in the village for the past 10 years with her family. She has said that converted Christians in her village are forcing her to embrace Christianity. She accused the local police of not taking any action despite complaining many times.

Fed up with police inaction and unable to bear the harassment from Christians, she came to the Collectorate and tried to self-immolate in protest. Fortunately, fire safety personnel on the premises stopped her from alighting herself and sent her to the government hospital for treatment.

Talking to the media after she was stopped, Valarmathi said that Christians had filed fake cases against her and harassed her by blocking the road and attacking family members. She said that her son was beaten to death for refusing to convert and filing a complaint against Christians. She alleged that despite filing complaints in the RS Mangalam police station, no action was forthcoming, and Christians continued to harass her family.

Only a few months ago, a 17 year old Hindu girl Lavanya took her life due to torture from her Christian school to convert to Christianity. The DMK government tried every trick in its book to discredit the girl’s charges in her deathbed declaration. It is not new for converted Christians to harass Hindu families in their area.

In 2019, Hindus belonging to the nomadic tribe Kattu Nayakkar living in Madurai staged a protest demanding action against a newly built prayer hall which is used to lure their children, who are then made to pose as orphans to raise money from foreign donors. They alleged that the police refused to accept their complaints about the missionaries harassing them by offering money and prizes despite continuous appeals by the Hindus to stop such activities.

Their womenfolk accused the missionaries of harassing them by throwing stones at them when they crossed the church and luring their children and old people when they are away on business. The Badaga tribe of Nilgris also faced similar harassment at the hands of the converts. Neo converts harassed Hindu Badagas by disturbing the studies of 12th standard kids who face public examination through loud prayers, harassing the kids to join their prayer, and intentionally intruding on their sleep by conducting night prayer sessions