Suspected Hindu militants also attacked Christian institutions including churches, schools, homes and a hostel, convent and missionary hospital in the district of Kandhamal, where Christians were killed in December last year, said Priest Mrutyunjaya Digal of Bhubaneswar, Orissa’s capital.
During the violence, "in Konjamendi [region] one priest has been beaten up sustaining head injuries and a religious nun was raped.” He said there were reports that both are held against their will in a Hindu worshiping place, but other Christians claimed they were kept at a local police station. Difficult phone connections made it difficult to immediately confirm their exact whereabouts.
The violence apparently erupted after the killing this weekend of Swami Laxananda Saraswati, a local radical Hindu leader. It was not clear who was responsible for the murder, but militants blamed Christians.
HOMES DESTROYED
Digal said Christian homes were destroyed in the Orissa areas of Phulbani, Srasanada, Pobingia, Balliguda and Konjamendi. Elsewhere, the Catholic Phulbani Church and the missionary hospital of Srasanda Missionaries of Charity group were named among Christian institutions attacked, and several patiens and priests were apparently beaten there.
In addition, “This morning, August 25, violent mobs tried to enter the Catholic Church and Archbishop’s house [in Orissa]. They could not enter because of a police presence, but threw stones at the guest house of the Archbishop’s House, damaging some windows,” the priest explained. Other militants reportedly entered the compound of the Catholic Duburi parish, and two priests remained missing there Monday, August 25.
Earlier on Sunday, August 24, a pastoral center, convent and boys hostel were attacked, injuring several boys, the priest said. A Baptist church in Bhubaneswar and Christian schools were also said to have been targeted in the region. "The situation seems to be very serious. People are fleeing to safer places. But nothing seems safe," the priest said.
CATHOLIC CHURCHES
He said there was concern of more violence, following the cremation of the Hindu leader. He said violence was already spreading in several Catholic dioceses, in which at least one priest was injured. The priest said he has been urging his supporters to pray for the situation.
Orissa has a history of religious violence. Besides last year’s violence, it made world headlines in 1999 when Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two young sons were burnt to death by an angry mob sleeping a station wagon at Manoharpur village in the state’s Keonjhar District.
