Twenty-eight Christian families in Chhattisgarh were brutally assaulted on March 10 after demanding justice from government authorities, who have denied them food rations for months.
From November 2025 onwards, the head of the village council and the ration vendor of Millampalli village in the Konta block of Sukma district stopped providing rations, which are the legal right of the 28 families, without justification and solely because the families are Christians.
The ration system in India, known as the Public Distribution System, is a massive, state-run welfare program that distributes subsidized food grains, such as rice, wheat, and lentils, to more than 800 million people living below the poverty line. It ensures food security by providing staple foods at highly subsidized prices through Fair Price Shops to families registered under this scheme and possessing a valid ration card.
The denial of rations to Christian families is a common form of persecution opted by Hindu nationalists in Chhattisgarh.
After they were denied rations in their own village, the 28 families of Millampalli struggled to obtain the food grains from other areas. Desperate, they filed a joint complaint to the district collector in early March.
The district collector then sent a food inspector to investigate the matter. However, the food inspector, instead of providing relief to the victims’ families, actually instigated the Millampalli villagers to use derogatory and incisive language to assault the Christian families.
Encouraged by the food inspector’s language and tenor, the opposing villagers attacked the Christian families and severely beat both men and women with wooden rods. Videos and photos of this assault on the Christians have gone viral on social media.
After the incident, the families submitted several written complaints to the district collector and police authorities.
In the complaint, the families claimed that the food inspector who went for investigations to Millampalli village on March 10 allegedly mistreated the complainants, encouraged others to pressure them to abandon Christianity, and contributed to public disorder.
The complainants also alleged that the food inspector threatened them, saying, “If you follow Jesus Christ, you will be jailed for eight years, and you will also not get your ration unless you abandon Christianity.”
The victims demanded justice in accordance with the Indian Constitution and said they have the right to receive government rations. The complaint demands legal action against the assaulters and restoration of rations to the families.
The complainants named six individuals who were involved in the assault and the food inspector for misconduct.
