A Christian couple was forced to spend the night in a frigid pond after they refused to deny Christ; the man has now died.

Bartu Urawn and his wife from Jharkhand state, India, were forced to spend 17 hours up to their necks in the pond with their hands tied as punishment for leaving their indigenous faith, reported Morning Star News. Bartu became ill and sustained nerve damage.

Beneswar Urawn, the couple’s son, witnessed the punishment along with some villagers. “All through the night, they were in the cold water shivering, and I along with 15 to 20 villagers were witness to the brutality,” said Beneswar. “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 till my last breath.'”

After the couple was pulled from the water, the villagers hit them and tried to get them to deny Christ. Both became ill, but Bartu’s wife recovered while he did not. Bartu died on January 20, 2017. Villagers stood watch over his body and refused to allow the family to bury him. The next day, Beneswar and four others were able to get Bartu’s body and carry it six miles, where they were able to bury him on government land.

The punishment came after years of persecution for Bartu Urawn and his wife, Beneswar Urawn and his wife and Beneswar’s younger brother. The villagers practice Sarna Dharam, which demands blood sacrifice and ritualistic services. Before the torture, the villagers forced Bartu to attend one of their services and forced some of the sacrifice down his throat and made him drink a fermented liquor, Beneswar told Morning Star News. The villagers had also persecuted Beneswar, his wife and Beneswar’s younger brother by locking them in their house for hours and polluting their drinking water source.

Nine families also accepted Jesus when the Urawn family did 10 years ago. Seven have since returned to the indigenous religion after they were persecuted for their faith. The Urawns have remained faithful.

Open Doors ranked India as 15th on a list of countries where Christians experience persecution for their faith.