Bartu Urawn, GCN reported, was attacked by villagers for the past three years because of his faith. It reached a boiling point last year, when a group abducted him and forced him to attend one of their tribal worship services. During the service, an animal was sacrificed and the villagers forced Bartu Urawn to eat a portion of the animal and drink fermented liquor. “They told my father that now the demons will not let him live,” Beneswar Urawn said. When Bartu Urawn and his wife refused to deny their Christian faith, the angry villagers tied him and his wife up and forced them into the frigid water.

A 50-year-old Christian convert in a remote town in India died last month after he and his wife were reportedly forced to stand in a freezing pond for 17 hours because of their faith.

Residents of the tribal village of Kubuaa were upset when, 10 years ago, Bartu Urawn and his family abandoned the native religion — Sarna Dharam — and became Christians, according to Global Christian News.

As punishment for the family’s unwillingness to denounce Jesus Christ, villagers forced Bartu Urawn and his wife into the freezing pond for more than half a day. Bartu Urawn’s son, Beneswar, told the outlet that his parents were immersed in the water from around 5 p.m. until 10 a.m. the following day.

After suffering two paralytic attacks that caused major nerve damage, Bartu Urawn died Jan. 20.

“All throughout the night, they were in the cold water shivering and I, along with 15 to 20 villagers, were witness to the brutality,” Beneswar Urawn said. “The villagers kept asking my father if he is ready to forsake Christ and return to the Sarna fold. He reiterated every time, ‘I will not deny Christ. … I will continue to believe until my last breath.’”

Other families also converted to Christianity but ultimately renounced their faith and rejoined the tribal religion, according to the Christian Post:

Beneswar explained that his family was not the only one in the village that embraced Christianity over 10 years ago, as nine other families also decided to put their faith in Christ. But amid constant demands that the families return to the indigenous religion, seven of the families caved to threats and renounced Christ.

As a majority of families converted back to the tribal religion, pressure increased on the Urawn family. Beneswar said the village came together like a mob, attacked his family, locked them inside their home for hours and soiled the family’s drinking water.

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