By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) - New details emerged Thursday of a young Christian man who was reportedly murdered in eastern India for refusing to abandon his faith in Christ.
Kande Mudu, 27, was gruesomely killed by weapons carrying Hindu militants in Bari village in the Khunti District of Jharkhand state, said Christians familiar with the situation.
Mudu, who converted to Christianity four years ago, leaves behind a wife and two daughters, aged one and three, Worthy News learned. They remained in hiding Thursday.
Christian fights investigators said that the June 7 attack happened after the family had finished dinner and gathered for prayer.
They reportedly first heard banging on their front door. Soon after a group of six to eight men armed with sharp weapons and homemade pistols demanded that her husband Kande Mudu come outside, Christians said.
BREAKING DOOR
“The men later broke down the door and dragged him outside as Mrs. Mudu pleaded for her husband’s life,” explained advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).
“Once they had got Mrs. Mudu out of the way, the men proceeded to violently hack Mr. Mudu with their weapons, slitting his throat,” CSW added.
Bindu Mudu was quoted as saying that her husband knew that their lives were in danger and that the men had bad intentions. As he prepared to meet the mob, he reportedly told his wife to remain healthy and “to never give up faith in Jesus” Christ “even if they killed” him.
The widow took her two daughters and was forced to run for several kilometers as locals refused to shelter them. She eventually took temporary refuge in the home of another church member.
Her husband’s body was discovered by his younger brother on the village road, according to Christian activists. After a police autopsy, his funeral happened on June 8, Worthy News learned.
CHRISTIAN FAITH
In a statement distributed by CSW, widow Mudu said her father encouraged her “to forsake” her Christian faith if she wanted to stay alive.
At the funeral, he reminded the widow that her mother was gang-raped in 2018 in a previous attack on the Christian family.
Though she lost her husband, to which she responded, “I will live for Jesus and die for Jesus, but I will never turn back.”
The killing was the latest in a series of attacks against Christians in India, a mainly Hindu nation.