Police in Karnataka in Southern India are investigating the firebombing of two Church of South India churches. On 13 July 2016 an unidentified gang hurled a molotov cocktail against the outer wall of a church in Bangalore, setting the building alight. The same day a firebomb was tossed into the Tomlinson Memorial Church in Tumakuru. The fires were quickly extinguished and both buildings sustained minor damage. Church leaders stated a sit in at the Tumakuru City Hall on the 15th demanding police protection from suspected Hindu militants. The Rev. Victor Hebick, pastor of the CSI Sade Memorial Church in Devanuru, told The Hindu, “We are staging the dharna and hunger strike to peacefully condemn the attack and demand the government to provide protection to our community and places of worship, besides taking steps to prevent such incidents from recurring.” All church run schools, hospitals and social service institutions would be shuttered on 18 July 2016 in protest, he said.
