butchered in the same state, police have discovered the body of another pastor in India’s tense southern state of Andhra Pradesh, news reports said Monday, June 6.
In a statement released by Christian news agency Compass Direct, the national secretary
of advocacy group All Indian Christian Council (AICC) said the pastor had been identified as Isaac Raju, who was missing since May 24.
"His body was found wrapped in a jute bag that was dumped behind bushes in the Golconda area, just outside the state capital, Hyderabad," said the AICC official Sam Paul. Raju, who led an independent church on the outskirts of the city, is survived by his wife and 18-year-old son. His 15-year-old daughter died in a road accident in April.
SECOND KILLING
This is the second killing of a Christian minister in Andhra Pradesh in recent weeks. Hindu extremists allegedly "tortured and killed" native missionary K. Daniel, a preacher from Kummarvadi, Thursday May 19, the say when a court acquitted fellow militants in the murder of another, Australian, missionary and his two children, BosNewsLife learned from local sources earlier.
"Apparently, [he] left his house with Gospel tracts early on the morning of May 19," indigenous ministry officials told BosNewsLife in an e-mail message released by CAM. "He never returned [and] his wife gave the police a missing person report [the same day]."
May 19 was also the date when the High Court of India’s north-eastern state of Orissa overturned a death sentence given to Dara Singh for his involvement in the murders of Australian Missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons Philip and Timothy in 1999.
GUNNY SACK
"Whoever killed [K. Daniel] put his body in a gunny sack and threw it outside the city into the bushes," added a local ministry official in the CAM statement. The killings have added to fear within the Christian community, BosNewsLife monitored.
“We don’t know what’s happening, but we are scared,” Paul was quoted as saying by Compass Direct about the latest killing of pastor Raju. “Someone called and told the police that [Raju’s] body was lying there. At first the police could not find the body. Then another call came, giving precise directions, and the body was found," he recalled.
"The same thing happened in Daniel’s case. They called to tell where the body was. It’s a very planned way of terrorizing the Christian community,” Paul added. “The body was so badly decomposed that it could not be recognized. The police identified him from his belt and clothes.”
POST MORTEM
A post mortem will be carried out to determine the cause of death, but Paul believes the murder was clearly “a religious crime,” Compass Direct reported. The news agency quoted local sources as saying that a man named Vinod called to see Raju a week before his disappearance and asked if he was available as a wedding celebrant.
Raju’s father apparently answered yes. A week later, on May 24, Raju told his wife that Vinod had phoned and that he was going to meet him. When Raju failed to come home, the family reported him missing.
Following his disappearance, police launched a massive manhunt. The situation was particularly worrying, as K. Daniel had also been approached regarding a wedding ceremony before his disappearance, according to an Associated Press (AP) report on June 5.
POLICE INVESTIGATION
AP said police questioned at least 150 members of Hindu nationalist groups after an anonymous letter was sent to a local newspaper, claiming the murders were carried out by an organization called the "Anti-Christian Forum."
Paul confirmed to Compass Direct that a state newspaper published a copy of the letter on May 31. "The release said that [the Anti-Christian Forum] was responsible for Daniel’s death and that they would repeat such killings. We didn’t take it seriously at the time, thinking it was a ploy, but the police are now investigating who is behind this organization," said Paul.
Following the recovery of Raju’s body, the state government formed a Special Investigation Team to find those responsible for the murders. The home minister has also offered protection to Christian missionaries living in the state, Compass Direct reported.
CHRISTIANS FEAR
"Pastors of larger churches are not scared, but others, those who live and work alone on the outskirts of the city, are really scared. There are at least 200 to 300 of them," Paul said.
There are approximately 1,500 churches in Hyderabad city, and the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Y. Rajshekhar Reddy, “claims to be a Christian,” according to Paul. Christians in the area reportedly plan protests and to meet government officials while a notice in The Hindu newspaper offered a reward for information leading to the arrest of the killers of killers of Daniel and Raju.
