Wheels of Justice Begin Turning in India’s Orissa Violence
September 10, 2009 – 2:09 pmsix sentenced for anti-Christian rampage; tensions persist
CDN:
NEW DELHI, Sept. 10 - A fast-track court in Orissa state on Monday (Sept. 7) sentenced six people to four years of “rigorous imprisonment” and a fine of 2,000 rupees (US$41) each for their role in anti-Christian violence in the state’s Kandhamal district a year ago.
Additional Sessions Judge Shobhan Kumar Das announced they were convicted of setting Christian houses on fire and engaging in unlawful assembly by defying curfew.
Following the assassination of a Hindu leader on Aug. 23, 2008, Kandhamal district was the epicenter of nearly three months of violence by Hindu extremists that killed at least 100 people and burned more than 4,500 houses and over 250 churches and 13 educational institutions; 50,000 people were left displaced.
Altho Maoists took responsibility for the assassination, Hindu extremists blamed Christians in order to ignite large-scale violence on the minority community. Police had charged 11 people, all residents of Tambasuga village, for burning the houses of Ladada Kanhar and his two sons in the same village in August of last year.
The court acquitted five of them for lack of evidence. The total number of convictions for the violence has now increased to 12, while at least 42 others have been acquitted.
A total of 831 cases of violence have reportedly been filed. “The police have dropped around 300 First Investigation Reports out of the 800-odd cases due to various reasons like lack of evidence,” Orissa High Court attorney Bibhu Dutta Das told Compass.
Read the entire article.
FYI: Compass Direct recently updated their website: www.compassdirect.org. It is much more attractive and user-friendly than the previous version.
The persecution in Orissa has been heavily covered by MM. View our previous articles on events in Orissa. Pray for our brothers and sisters that they would endure like good soldiers for their King, Lord Jesus.
