By BosNewsLife Asia Service
NEW DELHI, INDIA (BosNewsLife)– New details have emerged about the circumstances surrounding the death of an Indian missionary who friend say was killed for his faith in Jesus Christ by members of India’s Koya tribe amid mounting attacks in India against devoted Christians.
“Brother Sadavir” as he was known, reportedly spoke about his faith in India’s Dantewada district. “It eventually cost the husband and father of three his life,” said Voice Of the Martryrs (VOM) an advocacy group supporting the family.
“Fearing the loss of their cultural identity, members of the Koya tribe attacked Brother Sadavir in 2010 and then again in 2012. Despite these previous attacks, Sadavir’s ministry faithfully continued — until a knock on his door at 1 a.m.” [local time] on January 22,”the group told BosNewsLife.
When his wife “Jani” opened the door, she was confronted by an angry mob of 200 people, Chrisians said.
“The mob was composed of both Koyas and Naxalites, members of India’s Communist guerrilla groups,” VOM said.
MOB ENTERING HOME
“Before she could say anything, the mob forcibly entered the home, grabbing Sadavir and taking him away. Jani frantically ran after the group into the forest, pleading for her husband’s safety and release,” VOM added.
“We will not do anything to him,” she was allegedly told. “Go, and in the morning get food for him and come to our camp.”
The next morning, Jani, joined by Sadavir’s mother and sisters, began the long walk to the camp where Naxalite leaders were told by those opposing the missionary that he had been “converting all of our people to Christianity by bribing them, and he’s giving all your information to the police.”
VOM investigators said abductors then tied the Christian man to a tree and — in front of his wife, mother and sisters — began beating his legs with bamboo sticks while shouting: “You are spoiling our culture by converting our people to Christians!”
They allegedly beat him until his flesh was hanging from his bones. “Then they killed him by piercing his chest with a trishula,” a three-pronged spear and an important Hindu symbol, the group added.
MOB KEEPS BODY
The killers allegedly kept Sadavir’s body, out of fear that his wife would notify the police.
When Jani begged them for her husband’s body, they finally gave in under one condition that the human remains would be burned, not buried. “His murderers wanted no evidence of the crime,” VOM said.
The group told BosNewsLife that it is supporting the 27-year-old widow and her three children “during this difficult time as they deal with the aftermath of such horrendous trauma and loss.”
Christians have been targeted in several states of India often by Hindu groups opposing the spread of Christianity in the country.
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