By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
NEW DELHI (Worthy News) - A Christian woman was beaten to death with a hammer and other weapons in central India after she abandoned Hinduism and turned to faith in Christ, several sources confirmed Wednesday.
Bindu Sodi, 32, was murdered on June 24 in Toylanka village in the Dantewada district of India’s state Chhattisgarh, shocking the region’s “entire Christian community,” Christians said.
Fanatical Hindu relatives had condemned her decision “to convert to Christianity,” Christians told Worthy News.
She had been the sole breadwinner for her mother, sister, younger brother, his wife, and their 2-year-old child, Christians said.
The main suspect in the case reportedly claimed she and her relatives had no right to ancestral farmland because they had become Christians.
The surviving family members cannot return home due to death threats, according to Christians familiar with the situation.
Since her conversion to Christ four years ago, she reportedly faced what fellow believers said was “ongoing harassment and threats from opposing Hindu relatives.”
SUDDEN AMBUSH
On the day of the attack, she plowed a field with members of her immediate family when they were suddenly ambushed, according to investigators. “Facing a mob armed with axes and other weapons, Bindu's mother, brother, and sister fled the area. However, Bindu couldn't get away and, subsequently, was repeatedly stabbed and beaten,” explained advocates group Voice Of the Martyrs Canada (VOMC), which closely followed the case.
“Complaints have been filed with the police but, at last report, no action had been taken against the attackers. Additionally, it has been reported that Bindu's opposing relatives even resisted her burial,” VOMC added in comments to Worthy News.
Christian leaders have condemned the violence and the reported arrest of other believers.
They also demanded that suspects be detained and that the burial be allowed, Worthy News learned.
VOMC said it had urged its supporters to pray for the family and that those responsible would be found and eventually turn to Christ themselves.
This incident is one of several recent attacks against followers of Jesus Christ in Chhattisgarh, said VOMC. “On June 12, seven Christian families were assaulted in a nearby village.
In May, another believer was reportedly beaten and stabbed to death and then buried by his assailants. The attacks highlighted broader concerns about attacks against minority Christians in India, the world’s most populous mainly Hindu nation.