By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) - Indian church leaders have condemned the killing of a young Protestant missionary and pastor by suspected Maoist rebels in western India.
Pastor Munsi Deo Tando, who was shot dead July 10, was the 3rd Christian known to have been killed in India for his faith in less than a month, investigators said.
“His bullet-ridden body was later recovered from the forest,” added Shibu Thomas, founder of Christian aid group Persecution Relief.
Archbishop Fexlix Anthony Machado, secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, reportedly said he was "very sad to learn that a minister of Christ was killed for his faith.
“I condemn it,” the archbishop said.
“It was a cowardly act. No one should take the life of others. Violence is not a solution to any problem, and we appeal to those indulging in such bloody acts to respect human life and give up arms,” he added.
HUMBLE HOUSE
Thomas said in published remarks that a group of suspected Maoists, including three women, forced their way "into the humble house of the pastor where he was on a fast and prayer.”
The pastor’s house is thatched with leaves and mud walls in the forested Bhatpar village in the Maoist-facing Gadchiroli district.
Thomas noted that Maoists, “tied his hands behind his back and ordered him to walk with them. He had no choice, so went with them, and later his bullet-ridden body was recovered from the forest half a kilometer from his home," he recalled.
Pastor Tandor is survived by his wife Jaini and four young children. “The family.”, Thomas added, “faced a lot of resistance from the local villagers for his faith in Jesus and they openly questioned their faith and even threatened to socially exclude them if they failed to give up their faith.”
This is the 3rd known Christian murdered for his faith in heavily Hindu India in less than a month, according to investigators.
HACKED TO DEATH
The others include Samaru Madkami, a 14-year-old Christian boy. He was recently hacked to death by religious militants because of his faith in Christ, local Christians recalled.
The murder happened in the village Kenduguda in Malkangiri, a district in the east-Indian state of Odisha. Friends said it was a punishment as three years ago, he and his entire family “gave their lives to Jesus Christ.”
Since then, militants had been threatening to kill them and the rest of the Christians in the village. Separately, Kande Mudu was murdered by an armed group in Bari village in the Khunti district of Jharkhand, another eastern state.
An angry mob broke into Mudu’s home, attacked the 27-year-old, and slit his throat. The attackers were furious that he had accepted Christ four years ago. He leaves behind a wife and two daughters who remain in hiding in the area.
No arrests have been made thus far, according to well-informed Christians. But it underscored mounting concerns about attacks against India’s Christian minority.
Persecution Relief said if recorded “293 cases of Christian Persecution” in the first half of 2020. Last year alone it recorded a maximum number of 527 cases compared to 447 cases in 2018, 440 in 2017 and 330 in 2016.
“It was a cowardly act. No one should take the life of others. Violence is not a solution to any problem and we appeal to those indulging in such bloody acts to respect human life and give up arms,” he added.