By Purushottam Nayak
Raikia, March 14, 2020: Unidentified miscreants looted a church in the Kandhamal district of Odisha, eastern India.
Moses Digal, a Christian leader in Budamaha village under Raikia police station, told Matters India on March 14 that thieves broke the iron grill and two locks of a place of worship of the Believers Church India and carried away things worth more than 150,000 rupees.
The looted items included an amplifier, audio player, and a mixture machine of sound system.
The incident took place on March 12 night.
The church committee has filled a First Information Report at the Raikia police station.
“A sad thing has happened to the simple people. We are closely monitoring and investigating the matter,” said Alekh Gardia, officer-in-charge of the Raikia police station said.
Digal said the church committee has urged the administration to order an independent inquiry into the incident.
“We are threatened and our religious service is disturbed fully in this season of Lent. The faith in Christ of the simple people is shaken. But we are firm and strong enough the state government will do justice to the people of simple faith,” said Pastor Sanjaya Khora, president of the Christian sect.
Bipin Nayak, secretary of the congregation, said they have faith in the country’s judicial system.
Rebeka Pradhan, a woman member of the church, said they have hardly recovered from an anti-Christian violence Kandhamal district experienced in 2008. “But now we are again frightened of the criminals, extremists and anti-socials.”
Malaya Madhuri Khora, wife of Pastor Sanjay Khora, too said the incident has pained them, but they remain firm in their faith in Christ.
“We proclaim God but our other faith neighbouring just jealousy. Externally it seems good relationship but internally we suspect same relationship. We left our village for the sake of God. This incident cannot stop our praise to God,” she told Matters India.
The Believer Church in Odisha was started in 1990. It has four dioceses — Jayapur, Berhampur, Jharsuguda and Bhubaneswar – in the state, where about 500 serve 150,000 members.
The Budamaha center has 48 families and 182 members.