Police in India have denied reports that the killing of a 14-year-old boy in the country’s Odisha state in June was part of a “systematic plan to wipe out” Christians in the area.
The statement was in response to a petition filed earlier by Bishop P.R. Parichha, president of the All India Christian Council (Orissa Chapter), for an investigation into the incident.
In June, teenager Samaru Madkami was taken by suspected hard-line Hindus in was suspected to be part of a campaign to drive away Christians.
Madkami was taken from his home in a village of Kenduguda, Malkangiri District by a group of men late at night on June 4.
The men took the boy to a jungle where he was hacked to death.
Before their arrest, the alleged perpetrators reportedly tried to also to kidnap two of Madkami’s relatives who managed to escape.
Christian villagers said Madkami was killed for his faith by Hindu nationalists who had been targeting Christian families in the village.
Authorities, however, said the teenager was not killed because he had converted to Christianity but because the perpetrators suspected that Madkami’s father was a sorcerer who had killed 16 villagers.
The suspects reportedly sought to kill Madkami’s father, but the attack ended in the killing of the teenager.
Six men have been arrested in relation to the murder and are currently awaiting a hearing date from the court.
“I am disappointed with their opinion that the death of the minor was a result of vengeance for sorcery,” Bishop P.R. Parichha told Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).
The Baptist bishop said Madkami’s father was a Christian pastor, adding that there are “so many gaps” in the police report. “It is unfounded, biased and misleading,” said the Christian leader.
“The police should not deviate from the root cause of the murder of [Madkami],” he said. “We demand justice for [Madkami] and his father who lost his son because of his faith,” added the church leader.
This week marks the 12th anniversary of violent attacks against Christians in Odisha’s Kandhamal district.
In a statement, CSW said the violence in Kandhamal “was not an isolated incident.”
The faith-based rights group said Christians in the area have been “harassed and intimidated” for years due to “religious intolerance.”
In the 2008 attacks against Christians in Kandhamal, about 100 people were killed and 56,000 others displaced. At least 295 churches and places of worship were destroyed.
Freedom of religion in India is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution.
