By Purushottam Nayak
Rayagada: An alleged group of Hindu extremists have chased away Christians from a village in Odisha after destroying their houses.
The incident occurred on June 8 at Sikapai village in Rayagada district.
The village has some 40 families, including 8 Christian.
Upajukta Singh, the village pastor, said the attackers came from Sikarpai, another village. “They could not tolerate the presence of eight families of Sikarpai practicing Christian faith,” the pastor said.
According to Singh, the radicals destroyed the houses of Christians and drove them out from their native village.
The 60-year-old pastor said the attackers humiliated some Christian women when they went to fetch water from a well, 1 km away.
The miscreants broke the bore well and the women had to return home with empty pots and in fear, the pastor said.
“I admire their strong faith in Jesus despite pain, agony and fear in life they are continuing the faith which they have been practising for last fourteen years. The displaced faithful are now taking shelter in the forest,” the pastor said.
Nori Konjaka, one of the victims, said their attackers could only destroy “our houses, not our faith in Jesus.”
A case has been filed at the Kalyansingpur police station.
Shibu Thomas, founder of Persecution Relief, condemned the incident and said,. “While our country is facing a national calamity of unforeseen magnitude, the right attitude of responsible citizens or patriots must be to help each other in whatever way possible, irrespective of the caste or creed. Seeing the atrocities meted out to Christian communities in Odisha, I wonder to what level humanity has dropped to.”