Thakur Sing Bhi was killed April 3 in Gatiya Dev village by his own brother, a father who believed Christianity was "black magic" and responsible for his teenage daughter’s death, Indian Christians and relatives said.
Bhil, also known locally as Thakur Baba, apparently died of an arrow shot to the chest. The killing did not came as a surprise, villagers told media. The Christian leader, who is in his 50s, had faced opposition from relatives after converting to Christianity.
Relatives said his brother, identified as a middle-aged man. was especially angry about the conversion. He allegedly entered the house in a drunken rage at noon and shot an arrow into this chest from close range. Police have reportedly detained the man.
"YOUNGER BROTHER"
"My husband’s younger brother, had a 17-year-old daughter who died about three months ago because of ill health, and he blamed us for he thought that the conversion of my husband and his praying were responsible for his daughter’s death," Bhil’s wife Inda Pasaha Bhil said earlier in comments published by Christian news agency Compass Direct News, which investigates reported cases of Christian persecution.
"He somehow misunderstood our belief and prayers to be black magic of some kind, and since he was always opposed to our embrace of Christianity, it further infuriated him."
The case has underscored growing tensions in rural areas of India, where Christians, including many converts from Hinduism, are reportedly facing growing opposition. India is a mainly Hindu nation and militants reject the spread of Christianity in the country.
