By Matters India Reporter

Prakasm: A 65-year-old tribal woman, a Christian, was beaten to death while praying on her terrace in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

Persecution Relief, a watchdog group, reported March 22 that Subbaravamma was declared brought dead when villagers took her to a nearby hospital.

The woman, a member of the Kummara tribe, had become a Christian in 2008. She lived at Bollapalli, a village in the Prakasam district, with her husband K Jaya Ramaiah, son Subharayadu and daughter in law.

Persecution Relief hailed her a committed Christian and a prayer warrior. It quoted local sources to narrate the incident. On March 21 Subbaravamma went to her terrace at 5:30 pm to pray for an hour, her normal routine since her conversion.

A little distance from her house stands a mountain with a temple on top. Several daily wagers go up to the temple. Most daily wagers earn a living by making stone and clay idols.

A daily wager, who used to watch Subbaravamma’s activities, decided to attack her. He allegedly came down from the hill top, climbed the stairs in the woman’s house with a baton to the terrace.

He found her praying and oblivious of her surrounding and beat her on head several times until she collapsed.

The attacker tried to make his escape by jumping to the roof. However, neighbors caught him and handed him over to the police.

A grievously injured and profusely bleeding Subbaramma was rushed to the hospital.