Young Mother Is Fifth Christian Killed in India in Two Months

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – A 26-year-old mother became the fifth Christian in two months to be killed in India last week when she refused to hand over her daughter to be raped by Hindus who had assaulted the girl and other Christian minors, sources said.

Two masked Hindus on July 20 slit the throat of Sunita Devi (name changed for security reasons) in Regadi village, in Jharkhand state’s Khunti District, when she came out her door at 1 a.m. and refused their demand for her young daughter, according to the sources.

“The two suspects had raped Devi’s minor daughter three times in the past besides three other Christian juvenile girls, and all four of the minor girls belong to my church,” pastor Jaymasih Nag of Grace Family Ministry (Anugrah Pariwaar Seva) told Morning Star News.

Devi’s daughter told police the assailants had previously called Devi by phone with demands that she hand over her daughter to be sexually abused, according to a police report. That night her mother had refused to answer her cell phone when the assailants called, according to the daughter.

At about 1 a.m. Devi noticed two men at the window of the room where she had been sleeping with her children and decided to get up and send them away, Pastor Nag said, based on what the minor girl had told him.

“Unaware of their intentions, Devi with the help of her cell phone torch, stepped out of the house to shoo the men away,” he said. “Devi’s daughter followed her mother. Before long, the men attacked Devi and she fell on the ground dead. On seeing her mother fall on the ground, the minor girl quickly ran inside the house and latched the door from inside.”

The girl thought there could be more men at a distance, but because of darkness she could see only two of them with their faces covered, he said. According to police, after the assailants killed Devi, they dragged her body into a nearby jungle, put her corpse into a sack and threw it into a river about two miles away. 

Police found her body at 2 p.m. and sent it for autopsy.

Pastor Nag saw her corpse and said her throat was completely slit.

As her husband works in Odisha state to provide for the family, Devi had lived alone with their two sons and two daughters. She had kept quiet about the torment her family was going through and was dealing with the rapists herself, thinking they would not go to the extent of killing her, Pastor Nag said.

Her husband and the Christian parents of another rape victim went to police only after the killing of Devi, sources said. On the basis of statements from the two girls, officers at the Khunti police station registered a First Information Report and arrested two suspects, station in-charge Jaideep Toppo said.

“At the complaint of the two minor girls, we arrested two suspects, and they have confessed to their crime of raping Devi’s daughter three times and the other girl once,” Toppo told Morning Star News.

Asked if the suspects killed Devi, Toppo said only, “The two men are arrested for rape and not killing.”

Pastor Nag pastors his church in nearby Saridkel. Devi and her family began attending his church six years ago. Hers is one of eight Christian homes in her village of 25 families.

Religious Motive

The two men arrested are Hindus who live in Saridkel village, where Pastor Nag has led regular worship services for the past 12 years, less than a mile from Regadi.

Pastor Nag said that girls from Christian homes are intentionally targeted by Hindus who influence followers of tribal Sarna religion, trying to introduce Hindu gods into their rituals and uniting with them against Christians.

“Why are all their targets Christian girls?” he said. “Though the opposition might not be visible outwardly, there is constant threat to believers in various forms.”

Other area Christian leaders also said the rapes and the killing were clear cases of persecution.

“Christians are soft targets, and the underlying factor of such incidents are always because of their faith,” a Christian leader from Ranchi, Sandeep Oraon, told Morning Star News. “This belt of Jharkhand has been witnessing rising persecution, and it is very real for the Christians who are living it every day.”

Asked if the assaults against four Christian girls and Devi pointed to a targeting of Christians, Station in-charge Toppo told Morning Star News, “You are thinking too much.”

Fear of Reporting Rape

Pastor Nag noted the likelihood that there were more than two rapists.

“We are yet not sure if the rapists are only two – there could be more than two involved in the crime,” he said. “We are not sure if the rapists have targeted just four Christian girls and not more.”

In a culture that shames rape victims and facing threats from the assailants, the victims did not quickly reveal the crimes. After Devi’s husband and the other rape victim’s family took the bold step of approaching police, two more families in his church, residents of Saridkel, informed Pastor Nag that their minor daughters also had been victims of the two men, Pastor Nag told Morning Star News.

“I am shocked that neither Devi nor the other three families ever spoke to me about the traumatic experience they and their children had been going through,” he said. “They fear the adverse consequences their families will have to face for speaking out. Devi probably was afraid to speak out, knowing well the consequences she and her daughter would have to face, and thus she did not approach the police.”

The rapes and killing have terrified Christians in the two villages and surrounding areas, he said.

Christians begin facing opposition from Hindu and Sarna tribal religion villagers from the moment they put their faith in Christ, Nag said. Opposition also drove him from Saridkel for many years, forcing him to settle in a nearby city, he said. Extremists threatened to damage his church building, he said, and only in January did he dare return to his native Saridkel.

Political Pressure

A well-placed source told Morning Star News that there is immense political pressure in this case.

“Initially the police had arrested four suspects, but they let the other two go after some financial ‘give-and-take,’” the source said.

On Saturday (July 25) the arrested men were taken to court to record their statements, and a member of the Legislative Assembly belonging to the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party accompanied them in support, the source said.

Station in-charge Toppo said he was not aware of any confession to homicide.

Though the autopsy was performed the same day the body was discovered, July 20, Toppo said he was still awaiting the autopsy report.

“The weapon used for killing is not clear yet; wounds on the deceased’s neck and back were visible,” he told Morning Star News. “The rest will be clear in the report.”

Pastor Nag said he found police proceedings were “slow” and “ignoring the obvious.”

“Though it is obvious that these men brutally murdered Devi after she refused to give her daughter to them, police are still slow in taking action on the ‘killing’ front,” he told Morning Star News.

Asked about this allegation, Toppo reiterated, “Investigations are underway, and nothing can be said until the investigation is complete.”

Rapes

Devi was laid to rest on her own farmland on Tuesday (July 21). She is survived by her husband and four children, ages 2 to 13.

On June 28 she had sent her daughter to buy some vegetables at a nearby market. The girl went with a neighbor friend, and on their way the two suspects abducted them and took them to a secluded place, where they locked them in a room, sources said.

The two girls were kept in the room, which was locked from outside, with men taking turns to guard it until 9 p.m.

“These men entered the room at 9 in the night and raped both the girls,” Pastor Nag said. “This was the third time that Devi’s daughter was being raped and first time when her friend became their victim.”

The families of the girls searched for them throughout the night. The girls were released the next morning and informed their parents upon reaching their homes.

Devi’s daughter told her the rapists threatened severe harm if they told anybody about the assault, the pastor said.

“It was already traumatizing for Devi and her daughter that just like previous three times, the minor girl could be abducted from anywhere, anytime and dragged to a secluded place to be raped again and again,” Pastor Nag told Morning Star News. “It was since then that Devi started to receive constant phone calls from these men demanding for her daughter to be given to them for their sexual pleasure.”

Informed of the previous rapes, Toppo expressed surprise and told Morning Star News that the complainants had not reported the prior two rapes, and that police would investigate when they do so.

Devi’s husband has taken his four children out of the village, and they are living in an undisclosed location. He has received constant phone calls from the suspects’ friends and supporters pressuring him to withdraw the charges, Pastor Nag said.

“There are threats to his and his children’s lives,” the pastor said.

Including the death under mysterious circumstances of a Christian woman in Chhattisgarh state the last week of May, Devi’s death is the fifth religiously motivated killing of a Christian in India in two months. On July 10 in Maharashtra state, Maoists killed pastor Munshi Devu Tado in Bhatpar village, Gadchiroli District.

In Bari village, Jharkhand state, followers of tribal religion on June 7 abducted and killed Kande Munda. On the night of June 4 in Odisha state, followers of tribal religion abducted 16-year-old Sambaru Madkami for his faith before stabbing and stoning him to death.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom on April 28 urged the U.S. State Department to add India as a “Country of Particular Concern” to its list of nations with poor records of protecting religious freedom.

India is ranked 10^th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2020 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. The country was 31st in 2013, but its position has worsened since Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014.

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Eight Christians Brutally Assaulted In Odisha

A group of Christians were brutally attacked by a gang of raging religious goons at midnight on the 21st of July 2020. This attack took place in the Indian state of Odisha in a village named Badaguda which features in the district of Koraput.

Speaking to Persecution Relief, Pr. Ayuba Khora, the local Pastor said, “The goons broke into the home of 75-year-old Chachiri Muduli, who was housing around 7 odd Christians after their homes had been broken down earlier this year by the same fanatics. The goons not only mercilessly beat the Christians up but also destroyed the house.”

He further added, “8 Christians in all were admitted to the local government hospital with severe injuries, of which the elderly Chachiri had the worst wounds.”

Pr. Ayuba told Persecution Relief that he had been running a house church at the Badaguda village for the past 2 years. Around 40 Christians used to gather to pray every Friday. Since then, the villagers have been harassing and beating up the believers saying, “When you pray, our gods leave us, so you have to stop praying here or you must leave this village.”

Pr. Sudhakar Khosla, one of the Odisha state coordinators for Persecution Relief soon got in touch with Pr. Ayuba regarding the attack. “On the 26th of March 2020, the fanatics burnt down and destroyed a small cottage that we had built for the Church to meet in.”

Pr. Ayuba further told us that the fanatics had vandalized and broken down the homes of other believers in the village too, which is why the believers had taken shelter at ChachiriMuduli’s home. “Around 8 families in all are being persecuted for their faith in this village” he said.

Pr. Sudhakar also got an opportunity to speak with the persecuted Christians regarding their ordeal. “The villagers told us that our Christian faith has disturbed the village” said Sumitra, a young Christian girl who was also beaten up along with her father, Shiba Muduli, two other sisters, Sabi and Radhika and her brother-Sunam.

“Some of these villagers are very angry with us because we worship Jesus Christ and are trying to make us forsake Christianity” said Sunam Muduli, who is currently recuperating from his injuries.

Pr. Ayuba explained to Persecution Relief that in the past two years, the fanatics have quarreled with, beaten up and broken-down homes of believers many times. The homes of Christian brothers, Patulu naik and Purshan Naik were completely destroyed a few weeks ago. The believers approached the village headman for help numerous times but nothing was done about it.

“We then approached the Tehsildar and requested him to intervene on our behalf. Sadly, we were turned away with comforting words and no help” narrated Pr. Ayuba. He further stated that the attacks against the believers intensified to such an extent that all of them began living together as their homes and possessions were taken over by the goons.

“3 times Pr. Ayuba and the believers lodged a FIR at the local police station against the accused, but the police did nothing and did not arrest them” said Pr. Sudhakar. He added that the fourth FIR was filed on the 22nd of July 2020.

Pr. Sudhakar Khosla told Persecution Relief that after much pressure from The Koraput Pastor’s Association and the local Christians, the Police arrested a few of the accused on the 23rd of July 2020. “But there is a big possibility of the accused being released without bail” he exclaimed.

Speaking to the President of the Koraput Pastor’s Association, he said, “Since the 20th of March 2020, I have come to this village at least 6 times to sort out the issues. On every occasion, the fanatics come to a compromise but soon begin to harass the believers again.”

Since January 2020, Persecution Relief recorded a total of 18 cases of Christian Persecution in the state of Odisha and reported 6 murders in the same state since 2015. 293 cases of Christian persecution were recorded by Persecution Relief in the first half of 2020. From January 2016 to June 2020, Persecution Relief has recorded 2067 cases of Hate crimes against Christians in India

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has downgraded India to the lowest ranking, ‘Countries of Particular Concern’(CPC) In its 2020 report. The US State Department ranked India’s persecution severity at “Tier 2” along with Iraq and Afghanistan. Over the past seven years, India has risen from No. 31 to No. 10 on Open Doors’ World Watch List, ranking just behind Iran in persecution severity.

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Fourth Christian in Less than Two Months Killed in India

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – Maoists in Maharashtra state killed a church pastor on Friday (July 10), the fourth death of a Christian for their faith in India since late May, sources said.

In Bhatpar village, Gadchiroli District in the western peninsular state, pastor Munshi Devu Tado was leading a worship service on his property for about 15 village families from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. when three armed men and three women escorted him away, said his wife, Jaini Munshi Tado.

“They shook hands with him at first, then took him by his hand and, after few steps, they tied his hands at his back with a rope,” she told Morning Star News. 

“I, my father-in-law and brother-in-law followed after them, pleading and enquiring as to why they are taking him. They said they just want to talk to him and that we need not worry, they will send him back in a little while.”

Family members continued to follow until the Maoists forcibly stopped them and pushed them away, throwing them to the ground, Jaini Munshi Tado said.

“Hardly five to seven minutes later, we heard a gunshot,” she said, weeping. “We immediately ran in the direction only to find the body of my husband in the pool of his blood, and the Maoists had gone. I wept bitterly, my husband was gone.”

Pastor Tado was estimated to be in his mid-thirties. He leaves behind four children, ages 6, 5, 4 and 1.

Villagers upset with the growth of the church and the number of converts to Christianity from their native tribal religion incited Maoists to kill the pastor, though the assailants tried to give the impression that they killed him for being an informer, sources said.

The body of pastor Munshi Devu Tado in Gadchiroli District, Maharashtra, India. (Morning Star News)

The Maoists left a note in Pastor Tado’s pocket saying that he earned large amounts of money as a police informer against the militant insurgents, Jaini Munshi Tado said.

When police arrived to investigate, they told Christians that Pastor Tado was not an informer for them, and that they did not even know him, said pastor Vijay Kumar Vachami, a mentor and close associate of Pastor Tado.

Villagers had sent three letters to Maoists at different times spreading false information about Pastor Tado to instigate them against him, Pastor Vachami said.

“The Maoists once sent back a message saying, ‘We do not want to kill Tado, make him understand, and he will understand,’ but the villagers did not stop at that,” Pastor Vachami told Morning Star News. “They pestered the Maoists to the point that they actually executed the horrendous killing.”

The pastor and his family began to suffer persecution after the couple put their faith in Christ seven years ago, he said. A Christian from a nearby village had told them the gospel, and Tado’s family was the first family to convert from their tribal religion in the village of about 100 families, he said.

“They were persecuted in every way,” Pastor Vachami said. “Then one day, their house was attacked and brought down by the villagers. They were told to leave the village or else they would be killed.”

Three years ago, Pastor Tado left his village and made a temporary shelter for his family a mile from the village on his farmland, he said. Pastor Tado began to lead regular worship services at his new place, and people began receiving Christ, said Pastor Vachami, who lives in a neighboring village.

“There were only three Christian families in the past, but this year due to the hard work of Tado, the number of families increased to 18,” he said.

Contributions from church members helped Pastor Tado erect a separate worship place on his farmland, which the Christians inaugurated two weeks ago, he said.

“He was a very simple man and a very faithful servant of God,” Pastor Vachami said. “Please pray for his family that is left behind.”

Former Maoists

Pastor Tado and his wife were once Maoists, Jaini Munshi Tado said.

They joined the Maoist Naxalite movement in 2005, and police arrested them in 2007 from their home in Bhatpur village for participation in the communist insurgency. They were convicted and spent 18 months in prison, she said.

Upon their release, they returned to their village and began to make a living working their farmland. Their former Maoist contacts visited and even encouraged them to continue with the fresh start in their lives, she said.

“Since that day till only now, the Maoists never visited us or troubled us, nor called us back,” Jaini Munshi Tado said.

A First Information Report was registered at the Bhamragarh police station, but the family has not received a copy as investigations continue. Police declined to take calls from Morning Star News.

Pastor Tado’s body was scheduled for autopsy at the government hospital of Bhamragarh on Sunday (July 12).

“We earned our living by serving the Lord and by working in the agriculture fields,” Jaini Munshi Tado said. “Now that my husband is gone, I will ask God for His grace for me to bring up the four children.”

Including the death under mysterious circumstances of a Christian woman in Chhattisgarh state the last week of May, Pastor Tado’s killing would be the fourth religiously motivated slaying of a Christian in less than two months. In Bari village, Jharkhand state, followers of tribal religion on June 7 abducted and killed Kande Munda. On the night of June 4 in Odisha state, followers of tribal religion abducted 16-year-old Sambaru Madkami for his faith before stabbing and stoning him to death.

In the case in Chhattisgarh state, tribal Hindus persecuted a widowed, Christian mother of four before her body was found severely mutilated in the wilderness near her village, sources said. The body of 40-year-old Bajjo Bai Mandavi appeared to have been eaten by wild animals when it was found two miles into the wilderness near her native Kumud village, Kuye Mari, on May 29, but local Christians suspect villagers upset by her conversion killed her. She was last seen going into the wilderness of Kondagaon District to collect firewood on May 25.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom on April 28 urged the U.S. State Department to add India as a “Country of Particular Concern” to its list of nations with poor records of protecting religious freedom.

India is ranked 10^th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2020 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. The country was 31st in 2013, but its position has worsened since Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014.

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Six families of GEMS House of Prayer in McCluskieganj, Ranchi District (PEACE 1 Zone) were forced to partake in Ghar Wapsi by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal.

On 5^th July 2020 (Sunday) at 3:00 PM a group of VHP & BD members in four motorcycle went to the house of Mr. Karthik, a believer in McCluskieganj. Within sometime a big group of people in three Bolero Cars reached his house and threatened all the believers. They forced them to stay in their houses threatening to beat them up.

The next day, 6^th July 2020, fifty VHP members reached McCluskieganj and performed Ghar Wapsi ritual and forced the six Christian believers to participate. Kathik Malar, Geetha Devi, Jeera Malar, Pinky Devi, Arjun Malar, Pramod Malar, Urmila Devi, Chandru Malar and Poonam Devi were threatened and forced to partake in Ghar Wapsi. They were forced to chant ‘Jai shree ram’ and the believers were taken around the village in a procession. Even the little children were not spared and they were also forced to participate.

VHP and Bajrang Dal members threatened the believers to not conduct prayers and to not to pray to Lord Jesus Christ. They searched for the missionary Bro. Raneshwar to beat him up, but they could not find him.

MCN News Coverage of the Ghar Wapsi – https://youtu.be/OJMscP5XuJI

Pray for the believers and missionary of McCluskieganj to stand strong in the Lord amidst persecution.

Pray for God’s protection upon the believers and missionary.

Pray that the VHP & BD members may be touched and transformed by the gospel of Lord Jesus Christ.

Pray for the administration and police to protect Christians in Jharkhand.

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Christian Mother of Four in India Was Persecuted before Her Death

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – Tribal Hindus persecuted a widowed, Christian mother of four before her body was found severely mutilated in the wilderness near her village in Chhattisgarh, India, sources said.

The body of 40-year-old Bajjo Bai Mandavi was initially unrecognizable as it appeared to have been eaten by wild animals when it was found two miles into the wilderness near her native Kumud village, Kuye Mari, on May 29. She was last seen going into the wilderness of Kondagaon District to collect firewood on May 25.

The death threats, deprivation of water and shunning she had suffered at the hands of villagers who were upset that she left their blend of Hindu and traditional tribal rituals led family members and area Christian leaders to believe she was raped and killed before animals fed on her body, they said.

“There was no way to find out who the people were who raped my sister-in-law and then murdered her, so police and the authorities thought best to call it an attack by a wild animal,” a sobbing Bhajnath Mandavi, her brother-in-law, told Morning Star News.

Bhajnath Mandavi is the younger brother of Bhola Mandavi, who died of an illness four years ago, leaving Bajjo Bai Mandavi with children who are now 6, 8, 12 and 17.

Villagers had met four times to discuss action against her, area pastor Rupesh Kumar Salam told Morning Star News.

“She was threatened and asked to leave her faith and re-convert, but she boldly took a stand for her faith,” said Pastor Salam, who leads a church of about 120 people in nearby Kue Mari.

Bajjo Bai Mandavi had attended Sunday services there regularly with her children. In Kumud village, hers was one of just two Christian families among 21 other families.

The tribal Hindu families prohibited her from fetching water from the common village tap, forcing her to walk miles for it, Pastor Salam said.

“She bravely fought all the odds and refused to deny her faith even after she started to receive death threats from the Hindu extremist villagers,” Pastor Salam told Morning Star News. “Bajjo Bai became a Christian a little more than three years ago, and since then had faced severe opposition from the villagers.”

She regularly talked about the threats and shunning she and her children faced from the tribal Hindu villagers, he said.

“I always told her that we are praying for her and that everything will be fine – we could never imagine that she would face such brutality,” Pastor Salam said. “She was raped and then murdered by religious extremists for her Christian faith.”

Brother-in-law Mandavi said her own brother, who lives in her village, would not speak with her after she became a Christian three years ago.

“Nobody except one Christian family would speak to Bajjo Bai and her children,” he said.

An influential, tribal Hindu family in the village likely had a hand in the alleged rape and killing, said a source close to her family who requested anonymity.

“The villagers and all of us know who they are, but no action would be taken against them,” the source said. “They have a lot of money to enable them to keep themselves out of any trouble.”

If a homicide, it would be the third religiously motivated killing of a Christian in India within a few weeks. In Bari village, Jharkhand state, followers of tribal religion on June 7 abducted and killed Kande Munda. On the night of June 4 in Odisha state, followers of tribal religion abducted 16-year-old Sambaru Madkami for his faith before stabbing and stoning him to death.

In Uttar Pradesh state on May 28, villagers tried to kill pastor Dinesh Kumar in an ambush that left him unconscious.

Foul Play Dismissed

The remains of the semi-naked body were found in the wilderness by the driver of a passing tractor loaded with road construction material, Pastor Salam said.

The driver notified police, and Christians arrived at the site of the body with officers, he said.

The head of Kumud and four other area mountain villages, Gurcharan Bhandari, denied any foul play.

“She was probably killed by a wild animal,” Bhandari told Morning Star News.

Though he had not seen the police report, he said that it states that she was killed by a wild animal. Family members and church leaders also have not received a copy of the police report.

The village chief said an autopsy took place at the site where the body was discovered. Though neither he, victim family members or church leaders have received a copy of the autopsy report, Bhandari said it indicated that she was mauled to death by a wild animal.

The village chief said it was common for wild animals to attack humans in the wilderness but admitted that no such attack had ever taken place in the area where she was collecting firewood. He said the last attack took place three years ago in a far different part of the wilderness.

Bhandari said he suspects a bear might have killed her but could not explain why only her legs appeared to have been eaten.

Siya Yadav, who pastors a church in Keshkal 18 miles from Kumud, said he saw the body while driving his car after road construction forced him to a detour through the wilderness on May 28, but that he did not stop to look closer.

He visited the site later and said a wild animal possibly fed on the body after it lay in the wilderness for days.

“We could see that she died at one spot where the bundle of the sticks lay – there were evident marks that she was dragged by a wild animal to another spot and from there to the third spot,” Pastor Yadav told Morning Star News.

Search for Justice

Brother-in-law Bhajnath Mandavi said he is caring for the deceased’s two younger children. The 12-year-old child has been living with another relative 30 miles away for the past year, he said.

“I am still in shock. I do not know what the future of her four children will be,” said Mandavi, who was unable to attend his sister-in-law’s funeral due to coronavirus travel restrictions.

The oldest son, a contract laborer in Tamil Nadu state, was also forced to miss the funeral due to travel restrictions, he said.

“The eldest son could not come home even at his mother’s death,” Mandavi said.

Bajjo Bai Mandavi had supported her family as a daily-wage laborer. A senior pastor and Christian leader in the area said converts to Christianity in India’s rural areas increasingly face the threats and shunning she suffered.

“Social boycott is very real,” Pastor Son Singh told Morning Star News. “It is practiced even against high-ranking government officials when they accept Christ, so what can we say about this woman who was just a poor person and also a widow?”

Chhattisgarh Christian Forum President Arun Pannalal said Bajjo Bai Mandavi’s death exemplifies violence against Christians that is routinely dismissed.

“This is a crime against a minority community, and the authorities are not doing anything about it,” Pannalal told Morning Star News. “The Chhattisgarh Christian Forum will move to the High Court if this matter is not taken seriously.”

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom on April 28 urged the U.S. State Department to add India as a “Country of Particular Concern” to its list of nations with poor records of protecting religious freedom.

India is ranked 10th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2020 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. The country was 31st in 2013, but its position has worsened since Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014.

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Violent mob forces Christian families to flee village in northern India

A hard-line Hindu mob hit and ridiculed Vikas Gupta, a 21-year-old Christian youth, as he was paraded through a village market in a remote part of India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh on July 2.

Gupta told LiCAS.news that before the mob allowed him to go home, he was dragged inside a Hindu temple where he was forced to bow in front of an idol. The mob also damaged his motorbike.

The next day another mob barged into his home situated in a remote village in Azamgarh district. The mob ransacked his house; threatened his family and two other Christian families that if they did not leave the village the women would be raped, the men murdered, and their houses set on fire.

After the mob left, the families sought the police for help.

“The police were initially reluctant to act against the attackers,” said Gupta. “When we insisted, they took into custody two men from the mob and they started investigating the case,” he said.

But in response another mob — this time led by a village head — gathered outside the local police station and demanded the release of the two arrested men. The village head warned police of consequences if the men weren’t released.

“The police buckled under pressure and released those it had arrested earlier,” Gupta said.

“People’s wrath against us only grew after they saw their men getting freed. They targeted us again and this time with greater severity,” he said.

“When we saw no other option, we fled from the village, leaving behind our houses, household and livestock. We have now become like refugees,” he said.

The district where this occurred Azamgarg has a population of 4 million plus people of whom 84 percent are Hindus and 15 percent Muslims while Christians comprise .08 percent.

Patsy David, from the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a non-profit organization working for the Christian rights, told LiCAS.news that the targeted families — 15 people in total — had recently moved to the area and began holding prayer services in their houses which attracted the attention of a few locals.

“There is a community called Raj Bhars living in the village and a few people from this community got inspired from the message of Christ and began attending the prayer services out of curiosity,” David said. “This angered the village locals who accused the Christian families of forcefully converting people there,” David said.

Sneta Moria, one of the Christian women threatened by the mob, said that the village head, along with other local Hindus, didn’t want the Christian families settling in the village and wanted the local administration to force them out.

“The people here do not want us to live here peacefully. The local government officials seem too helpless before such a large crowd,” Moria said.

Minakshi Singh, general secretary of Unity in Christ, told LiCAS.news that she has taken up the issue with the local police. “We have been assured police action against the culprits. We hope justice will be done for the families who have been attacked and their homes destroyed,” she said.

Mobs of hard-line Hindu mobs — mostly in remote villages — often target Christians, accusing them of forcefully converting local Hindus to Christianity, allegations which Christian groups reject.

Open Doors, a non-profit organization supporting persecuted Christians worldwide, said in its most recent report that India as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for Christians who make up 2.5 percent of the country’s 1.3 billion people.

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Christian Father of Two Killed in Jharkhand State, India

HYDERABAD, India (Morning Star News) – When Kande Munda heard a knock on his door one night last month, the Christian father of two knew it was likely the same thugs and their colleagues in his area of Jharkhand, India who had harassed him for nearly four years.

They were particularly upset that Munda had reported them to police for a 2018 assault on his mother-in-law. The assailants, followers of tribal Adivasi religion, had opposed her conversion to Christianity by labelling her Christian prayers as “witchcraft” and gang-raping her.

Munda and his family were already in bed after a hard day of work on the night of June 7 when they heard the knock on the door. Munda told his wife not to answer it.

“He was suspicious that they must have come for him,” his wife, Bindi Munda, told Morning Star News.

Three men forced the door open and entered, while four or five remained outside, she said. Darkness obscured their faces.

“One of them pointed a gun at my husband and told the other two men that they should first rape me and then kill my husband,” Munda said.

Their children, ages 1 and 3, were asleep. The armed assailants seized her husband by the neck as he knelt and pleaded with them not to kill him, she said.

“I have done nothing wrong – please don’t kill me,” he cried repeatedly, according to his wife, who picked up their children, holding one in each arm, and fled into the wilderness. She hid there briefly before running into the village screaming for someone to save her husband.

“But by the time I had returned to our shanty with some neighbors, he was not there,” she said. “I went about half a mile on foot to a believer’s home to get their help to search for my husband.”

That night Kande Munda’s youngest brother, returning to Bari village on a motorbike, found his corpse in a pool of blood under a tree by the side of the road to Latardih village. The mutilated body was barely recognizable.

“He suspected that the body was that of his brother,” the wife of the deceased told Morning Star News. “He rushed to our shanty looking for us, and as he could not find us there, he called on my husband’s phone. I picked up the phone, and he told me that there was a corpse lying by the road, and it looked like that of my husband.”

Kande Munda, also known as Philip Munda, was 27.

It was the second killing of a Christian for his faith in India last month. On the night of June 4 in Odisha state, followers of tribal religion abducted 16-year-old Sambaru Madkami for his faith before stabbing and stoning him to death. In Uttar Pradesh state on May 28, villagers tried to kill pastor Dinesh Kumar in an ambush that left him unconscious.

Mixed Motives

Munda and his family previously practiced their traditional, animistic religion as tribal Adivasis. After he put his faith in Christ in 2017, his wife soon converted, and when her mother came for an extended visit in 2018, she too received Christ, Bindi Munda said.

After Adivasi villagers abducted her mother from their home, took her into the woods and gang-raped her, Kande Munda filed a police complaint, she said.

“The police investigated the matter and arrested some of the accused,” she said. “Since then, opposition against my husband and our Christian faith increased.”

Sanjay Sandil, a member of Siyon Church in the area, said the primary suspect remained at large. After police arrested some suspects, he said, one of Munda’s cousins continually harassed Munda with the help of some militant Maoist colleagues, pressuring him to withdraw the charges.

The cousin and Maoists issued an ultimatum about three months ago that Munda should drop the case or “face consequences,” Sandil said.

“Every time he would inform us about the harassment, we supported him as a church and stood by him,” Sandil told Morning Star News. “We always reached Bari village in the next couple of hours and ensured that the Maoist group did not lay hands on him or sister Bindi Munda.”

In May eight men surrounded their home, and Sandil and other Christians arrived to stand with the family, he said. Police also arrived and gave assurances that they would not let any of the accused go free, Sandil said.

The day of the attack (June 7), police had received word that the primary suspect was in Bari village and were searching for him, he said.

“They could not catch him, but in the night at around 8 p.m., the men unleashed the attack by forcefully entering his house,” Sandil said. “It is more likely that the same persons who gheraoed the house in May must have showed up at their shanty that night. Brother Philip Munda was brutally hacked to death with machetes. The marks can be seen clearly on the back of his body.”

Noble Soul

On June 8, officers at the Saiko police station registered cases against the eight men under sections for kidnapping or abducting to murder (Section 364) and murder (Section 302) of the Indian Penal Code.

“The persons who abducted and murdered Kande Munda have absconded from the crime scene soon after they committed his murder,” Superintendent of Police Ashutosh Shekhar told Morning Star News. “The investigation and search for the accused are still underway. We have been able to list the names of suspects, and a few other names also had surfaced during the investigation. All the accused persons would be arrested very soon.”

Sandeep Oraon, Jharkhand legal aid coordinator for advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom India, visited Munda’s family at their new location on June 24. He assured them of legal assistance in the matter and prayed with them.

Sandil recalled Munda as a noble soul – a selfless, skilled construction and field worker who would agree to work for half the normal wage for people who could not afford to pay more.

“He was providing for his family by working very hard,” Sandil said. “Now the small children do not have a father to provide and raise them.”

Bindi Munda has relocated with her children to another village, as the killers could come after her since she witnessed the abduction of her husband, he said.

“After Brother Philip Munda’s funeral service, the church members spent some time with sister Bindi, counselling her and telling her to remain strong in faith,” Sandil said. “She shared that her husband told her that he could be killed and asked her to bring up their children in a godly manner.”

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom on April 28 urged the U.S. State Department to add India as a “Country of Particular Concern” to its list of nations with poor records of protecting religious freedom.

India is ranked 10th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2020 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. The country was 31st in 2013, but its position has worsened since Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014.

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Christian Man Brutally Murdered for His Faith by Radicals in India

According to Christian News, a 27-year-old Christian, named Kande Mudu, was attacked and murdered by a group of armed men in the Khunti district of India’s Jharkhand state.

The murder occurred the night of June 7, when a group of armed men showed up at Kande Mudu’s house and demanded he come outside. The radicals broke down the door and took Mudu out of his home by force. The radicals then brutally attacked Mudu and slashed his throat.

Bindu Mudu, Mudu’s wife, told Christian Solidarity Worldwide, “After hearing the men at the front door, my husband knew that our lives were in danger and that the men had bad intentions.” Mudu then reportedly told his wife, “He might be killed but assured her to remain strong and never to give up her faith in Jesus even if they killed him.”

According to reports, Mudu became a Christian four years ago along with his family. They were the only Christians in their village. Prior to the June 7 murder, Mudu and his family faced constant harassment because of their faith. Now Mudu’s family, including his wife and daughters, have been forced to abandon the village.

Following Mudu’s murder, Bindu said that her father suggested she abandon her Christian faith and avoid being targeted by local radical groups. However, Bindu said, “I will live for Jesus and die for Jesus, but I will never turn back.”

A First Information Report (FIR), a document required to begin a criminal investigation, has been registered in regards to the murder of Kande Mudu. To date, no suspects have been arrested and Mudu’s family remain displaced in undisclosed location.

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Indian pastor forgives arsonists who razed church in Tamil Nadu

Pastor Ramesh Jebaraj says he forgives the arsonists who destroyed his church in Tamil Nadu State, southern India, in the early hours of 13 June.

Arsonists reduced the Real Peace Gospel church in rural Vayalur to a burnt out shell

The partially-sighted pastor who runs the Real Peace Gospel church in rural Vayalur said, “We don’t suspect anyone in particular. People of all faiths come here to pray. Someone may have done it out of jealousy, but we forgive them.”

Police are investigating the blaze that destroyed the thatched roof of the church, built ten years ago, and reduced the building to a burnt out shell. The charred remains of a drum, microphones and a table could be seen in the ruins.

No services had been held in the church since the nationwide coronavirus lockdown began in March. Pastor Ramesh said, “There is no possibility of any electrical short circuit. We use only rechargeable batteries during service and take them back.” The building was not connected to a mains power supply.

Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Christians of India (GCCI), believes the fire was an arson attack, adding that extremists have continued to sow fear among Christians in Hindu-majority India, despite the lockdown. “We are alarmed by this attack while the government is grappling with the pandemic crisis,” he said.

“India is a secular democracy, and Christians are no threat to anyone. We represent only 2.3 per cent of the population, and declining. Despite this, radical groups continue to attack and intimidate Christians, burning their churches,” the Christian leader added.

In May, the Alliance Defending Freedom India Trust (ADF) reported that at least three Christian families in India’s Chhattisgarh State had been prevented from burying their loved ones by religious extremists as persecution and mob violence against believers continued during the Covid-19 lockdown.

ADF lawyers said they had also received reports of six incidents of targeted violence against Christians in Chhattisgarh State and three incidents of anti-Christian violence in Jharkhand State in April. In neighbouring Odisha (formerly Orissa) State, a 14-year-old Christian boy was tortured and murdered by local extremists in his village, in Malkangiri district, in June.

The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) said the number of recorded incidents of violence and hate crime against Christians rose in 2019 to 366 incidents, compared to 325 in the previous year. EFI’s annual report, published in March, revealed Tamil Nadu State had the second highest number of anti-Christian incidents in 2019, with 60 attacks, behind Uttar Pradesh State, which recorded 86 attacks.

From Barnabas Fund contacts and other source

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Peace rally demands justice for murdered Christian teen

Malkangiri, June 17, 2020: A peaceful rally of Christians in Odisha’s Malkangiri on June 16 demanded justice for a teenage boy hacked to death two weeks ago.

Suspected religious fundamentalists on June 4 killed Samaru Madkami in Kenduguda, a village in Malkangiri district.

More than 350 people attended the rally and submitted a memorandum to Ramprasad Nag, Inspector In-Charge of Malkangiri. ‘I assure you to fulfil the demands made by you,” he assured the Christians.

Anti-Christian groups used to harass three families who had become Christians three years ago. They had complained to the police.

At midnight on June 4 , miscreants kidnapped Samaru and brutally murdered him.

The memorandum pointed out that people from Dalit and Tribal communities accept Christian religion on their free will, but face threats and harassment from radical groups.

“We demand justice for Samaru and for the us the Christians who feel threat in life,” the memorandum said.

“We want safety and security for the family of Madkami and Christians,” it further demands.

The memorandum bemoans that the murders now roam freely in society. “They should be brought to justice” asserts the letter.

It also said Christians in Odisha face persecution just because of their religion.

The memorandum bemoans that Christians are ostracised from the village and their children face bias and discrimination in schools.

“The Christians are deprived of government’s benefits, and other privileges. Tribal people are harassed in the name of caste despite their caste certificate. Christians are denied for burial in the village cemetery,” it says further.

The memorandum also bemoans that Christians are denied drinking water in villages.

“There is persecution, threat and injustice to the Christians,” Pastor Bijay Pusuru. the vice-president of the union, told Matters India.

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Haryana to bring bill against religious conversion by force, marriage: CM Khattar

The Haryana government will bring a bill against religious conversion by force, inducement or through marriages solemnised for the sole purpose of adopting a new religion, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Tuesday.

He also said that if needed, the existing cow protection law in the state will be made more stringent. Speaking to reporters in Nuh, Khattar said there have been complaints that a handful of people indulge in cow slaughter. There have also been complaints about instances of religious conversion in Nuh.

Khattar said that while one has the right to adopt any religion, conversion by force, inducement, etc. are not tolerable. The Right to Freedom of Religion Bill will be brought in which there will be provisions against conversion by misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, inducement, marriage or any fraudulent means, Khattar said.

"Strict action would be taken against those involved in forcible conversions," he said. He also said a board would be constituted to look after the "religious assets of Hindus in those areas where they are in minority. This work would be done according to the demand of the people of the area concerned".

The chief minister said that various steps were being taken by the state government for maintaining mutual brotherhood and social harmony among the communities.

Khattar said that one issue which sometimes creates wedge and disharmony between two communities is when some people indulge in cow slaughter.

He said the state government has decided to hold trials against accused in cow slaughtering cases in fast-track courts in a bid to curb such incidents.

He said that to curb incidents of cow slaughter in Haryana and to take strict and prompt action against the accused, hearings of all such cases would be held in fast-track courts. 

Though Haryana has a stringent cow protection law, Khattar said, it does not deter people at times.

"Recently, 2,550 pieces of cow hides were recovered from a village... If needed, amendments would also be made in the Haryana Gau Sanrakshan and Gau Samvardhan Act, 2015, to ensure protection of cows," he said.

Earlier, the chief minister held a meeting with district officials and representatives of various social and religious organisations, a state government statement said here.

He appealed to the people that they should continue to maintain social harmony that has been prevalent through the ages by strengthening the spirit of brotherhood.

He said the state government plans to set up a unit of the India Reserve Battalion in Nuh district. The IRB battalion based at Gurugram will be shifted to Nuh and a new women IRB battalion will be established in Gurugram.

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Pastor threatened in Haryana

On 14 June in Pinjore, Panchkula, Haryana, Pastor Tony Joseph was surrounded by the extremists in a believers’ house when he visited for a regular prayer meeting. Pastor Joseph is associated with AG Church and is frequent to the believer’s house for quite a few years. About 150 extremists were surrounding the house. Fortunately, the main door of the house was locked from inside, however, life-threatening comments with abusive words were made by the extremists. Subsequently, other believers arrived at the spot, rescued pastor Tony, and took him away with themselves. While the pastor was leaving the spot, he was manhandled by some of the extremists.

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Pastor threatened in Greater Noida

On June 11 in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, a businessman who has affiliations with RSS and BJP is threatening and harassing a pastor by falsely alleging that the pastor has converted his employee forcibly as well as through allurement. Pastor’s name is Vijay Pratap Singh and along with his senior pastor Madan Pal Singh, does ministry in Greater Noida. Pastor has amicably explained to businessman that as the citizens of the country they profess, practice, and propagate their faith and as a result of that, if any individual, out their own free will, would like to choose to follow their faith then it is his/her fundamental right. Pastor Vijay told him that they do not force or allure people to convert anybody.

Religious Liberty Commission of EFI

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