Protestant pastor killed in Orissa
January 19, 2011
A 45-year-old Pentecostal pastor was found dead in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, the site of an anti-Christian pogrom in 2008. While local police say that Saul Pradhan died accidentally of freezing, his brother says that “this was murder. My brother had blood oozing out of his mouth, hands and legs tied in an unnatural way, and his clothes were torn.” “He was killed because he wanted to reconcile Christians and Hindus in the village,” added the late pastor’s wife. “He tried to do so until the end, even reaching out to those who had set fire to the houses of Christians [in 2008].” A local priest warned that “violence could explode again in the district if the authorities do not stop the hate campaign” against Christians.
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Further information:
- Protestant pastor killed in Orissa “because he was a man of reconciliation” (Fides)
- "Kill Christians and Destroy Their Institutions" (Catholic World Report)
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