injured and Hindu and Muslim villagers reportedly burned down a prayer hall andattacked three church members in a village, BosNewsLife News Center monitored.
Compass Direct, a Christian news agency investigating the plight of persecuted Christians, said Fr. Mathew Uzhuthal, vicar-general and parish priest of Mokama in the east-Indian state of Bihar "was brutally stabbed in the neck and chest on April 11" when he apparently refused to pay extortion money to an ex-prisoner he had been counseling.
The incident occurred in the Mokama subdivision of Patna district on Monday evening. "Gyan Das demanded 100,000 rupees ($2,325) from Fr. Mathew, who refused to give the amount. There was a scuffle in which the father was stabbed four times in the neck and the chest," Allen R. Johannes, press secretary for the Archdiocese of Patna, told Compass Direct.
"SERIOUS CONDITION"
"He is in a serious condition. He had to be given four bottles of blood. He can speak but has no movement in his arms and legs." A fellow priest, identified as Fr. Thomas Cheruvally, reportedly saw Das coming out of Fr. Mathew’s room with a bloodied knife in his hands. Fr. Mathew was then found lying in a pool of blood and was rushed to the nearby Nazareth hospital, Compass Direct added.
Fr. Devasia Chirayl, secretary to the Bishop of Patna, told Compass that Das was a known criminal who Fr. Mathew had counseled several times since his release from prison, “trying to settle him in a normal life through advice.” However "Das was not happy with just the advice, and for the past few weeks, he had started asking for money," he added.
The latest violence came shortly after Hindu and Muslim villagers reportedly burned down a prayer hall and attacked three church members in a village in the tense state of Kerala, Compass Direct reported.
"DISCREET CEREMONY"
The April 1 attack came after 26 people were baptized in a discreet early morning ceremony, said the news agency. In addition Paul Ciniraj Mohammed, pastor of the church in Panamvilla village, and his assistant Shivanandan were beaten "severely", when talking to the villagers two days later, reported Compass Direct, citing local church officials.
Dr. John Dayal, who Compass Direct described as "a respected Christian leader," confirmed a trend of growing violence against Christians in Kerala state and elsewhere in India. “If the people do not summarily reject this culture of hatred and violence … it will do irreparable damage,” he was quoted as saying.
(With, Compass Direct, and reports from India and BosNewsLife New Delhi Bureau Chief Vishal Arora)
