Window International Network

EFI NEWS

Christian Killed in Orissa

February 25, 2009:

Another Christian has been killed in Orissa’s state Kandhamal district. Wave of fear and shock enveloped the district late last week with the discovery of the body of 45-year- old Hrudyananda Nayak on February 19.

Ashis Parida, an EFI correspondent reported that Nayak left his village of Rudangia on February 18 to accompany his older sister to her village of Bandaguda, one and a half kilometres from Rudangia.

It is alleged that an eyewitness saw Nayak being stopped by a group of extremists on his way back to the village and vanished thereafter.

The area Christians informed the police of Nayak’s disappearance. A search team of policemen and Christians found the lifeless body of Nayak among some rocks in the forest near the village of Rudangia on the evening of Thursday, February 19.

His face was disfigured with blood spots all over his body, they were marks around his neck and it is presumed that he was dragged towards the forest with a rope tied around his neck, according to reports.

Rudangia is a mainly Christian village, about 260 kilometres from Bhubaneshwar, the state capital.

Nayak’s death is the third such incident since October last year. Despite tight security measures, violence against Christians continues in the area since the worse out-breaks of anti-Christian persecution on August and September last year.

Please pray for Orissa and for all the Christians who are suffering for their faith.

Rev. Dr. Richard Howell

General Secretary

Evangelical Fellowship of India

New Delhi, India

Evangelical Fellowship of India (established 1951) is a charter member of World Evangelical Alliance, an accredited NGO with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations