Christian priest lynched in Orissa village
BHUBANESWAR: In yet another gruesome incident similar to the Staines' murder case, irate tribals, armed with bows and arrows, attacked and killed a Roman Catholic priest in the inaccessible Jambani village under Mahuldiha police station in Orissa's Mayurbhanj district in the early hours of Thursday.
A church, set up in the village about 3 years back, was also set ablaze by the gang of 15 persons. The victim has been identified as Arul Doss, priest of a church near Anandpur in Keonjhar district. The incident occurred round 2 a.m. when a dance programme was going on in the village, which was reportedly organised on the occasion of a congregation of converted Christians there.
The congregation, organised by the local church, was attended by Mr Doss who had reached the place earlier in the day. This was, however, opposed by non-Christians in the village, which possibly led to the violence, preliminary official reports reaching here said.
One person injured in the attack has since been admitted to the nearby Kaptipada hospital, the report added.
There are about 20 Christian families in the village, which is located in a thick jungle area, about 15 km from Mahuldiha police station, the report said.
Home secretary Ajit Tripathy, when contacted, maintained that the details of the incident and the circumstances leading to the violence were being collected. The village is not connected by any motorable road.
He said the incident was first reported to the police by the chowkidar (village guard) of the village. The home secretary could not say whether or not Dara Singh, o was involved in the Staines' murder on January 22 and the murder of a Muslim trader, Sheikh Rehman, on August 26 at the nearby Padiabeda village, was involved in this incident. Like the previous two incidents, the latest killing occurred on the day of a Hindu festival, Janmasthami. The Staines killing had occurred on the day of Saraswati Puja, while Rehman was hacked to death on Raksha Bandhan day.
Inspector general of police Amarandan Patnaik, deputy inspector general, district superintendent of police and other senior officials have rushed to the spot. No arrests have been made so far.
In New Delhi, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee strongly condemned the killing of the Christian priest and asked the state government to ``show its efficiency'' by arresting the culprits.
``I strongly condemn the dastardly killing of the Christian priest and especially urge the government of Orissa to show its efficiency and capability in quickly arresting the culprits in this and previous such crimes,'' the Prime Minister's statement said.
Mr Vajpayee said the perpetrators of this heinous crime, irrespective of their affiliation, must be immediately nabbed and brought to book.
It is extremely distressing that such murderous attacks on representatives of a minority community should be taking place unchecked and with alarming regularity in Orissa,'' he said, while expressing his condolences to the family of the priest.
``Rather than making political capital out of such incidents on the eve of elections, all political parties and social organisations should join together in preventing them,'' Mr Vajpayee said.
Ironically, the incident occurred barely a few hours after the ruling Congress and several other political parties had observed a state- wide bandh to protest against the continuing attacks on minorities. The call for the bandh was given by the Janata Dal (secular) and Left parties.
The Janata Dal (United) strongly condemned the killing and blamed the state government for its ``total failure'' to protect the minorities. Party spokesman Mohan Prakash said the state government had repeatedly failed in apprehending the culprits and bringing them to book.
He said the repeated failures of the Congress government did not auger well for the people of Orissa and it was time for them to teach the government a lesson.
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