Indian Christian Sukra Madi (52), who was pictured on the cover of the summer issue of Church in Chains magazine, is reportedly recovering from injuries he sustained in a brutal attack in the east coast state of Odisha in June. He was among thirty Christians injured in an attack by an armed mob of between thirty and forty villagers who practise tribal religion and who were angered by a gathering of pastors from other villages for a seed-blessing ceremony.

Sukra’s son Pastor Manglu Madi went to rescue his father from a mob armed with spades, axes and wooden sticks, knives and sickles. He told Morning Star News, “I somehow pulled him into a nearby house. Blood was oozing from his head and his clothes were soaked.”

Covered in blood from the attack, Sukra told his son, “I don’t think I will make it. I just want you to know that I will be with my Maker, and you should not worry for me.” He then collapsed, unconscious, and was one of ten Christians who had to be hospitalised following the attack.

Attacked after seed-blessing ceremony

The attack took place when twenty pastors were leaving a seed-blessing ceremony in Kotamateru village, Malkangiri district, on 21 June.

Local tradition calls for an annual chicken sacrifice to bless agricultural produce but instead the eleven Christian families of Kotamateru held a Christian ceremony, inviting pastors from around 15 villages to take part in blessing the seed.

Pastor Somru Muchaki said police gave verbal permission and promised to handle any potential trouble. He added, “The Christians wanted to submit a written application, but the officer assured that all was under control.”

Pastors arrived for the event by motorbike and after a worship service, Bible teaching and prayer they blessed the seed and had a fellowship lunch before leaving to go back to their villages. “It’s a remote area surrounded by jungle, so we decided to leave together,” said Pastor Madi.

Local residents stopped them near the church premises, however. “They began questioning our presence and objected to pastors coming from other villages,” Pastor Muchaki told Morning Star News. “We repeatedly explained it was for a seed blessing and lunch fellowship, but they wouldn’t listen. They accused us of carrying out conversions, even after we explained the purpose of our visit. Then they began to assault us. The attackers were locals and had clearly come prepared for violence.”

The villagers launched a violent attack on the pastors, throwing them on the ground, kicking them and beating them with their weapons. Seven Christians suffered critical head injuries and required stitches. One victim was able to contact a pastor near Malkangiri who arranged transport to rush the wounded to the district hospital.

Police reportedly tried to prevent the attack and one officer ordered the mob to disperse, but the villagers ignored him. Pastor Muchaki called the police officer and told him that his orders were not being followed and that they would all be killed, but the officer merely scolded the villagers, who turned on Pastor Muchaki and beat him.

“They caught me by my collar and, taking out their sandals, shoes and slippers, they began to beat me with continuous blows,” he said. When his brother-in-law rushed to his aid, his head was severely injured in two places from sharp weapons. “We could have defended ourselves; we were greater in number than the assaulters, but the Bible does not teach us to indulge in violence. So we took the blows,” Pastor Muchaki said. Eventually he and some others escaped to the jungle.

Ten of the thirty Christians who were attacked suffered bleeding injuries from sharp weapons, while others sustained internal injuries from blunt force. The ten hospitalised victims were treated for five days before being discharged, but four (Sukra Madi, Ganga Sodi, Podiya Kowasi and Erma Madi) developed complications and on 7 July they had to be taken to a hospital in neighbouring Andra Pradesh state for further treatment.

Complaint filed

The day after the attack, Laxman Kumar Beti, one of the victims and a resident of Kotamateru village, filed a complaint at Malkangiri police station. The First Information Report named 16 assailants and charges included “wrongful confinement,” “voluntarily causing hurt,” “causing grievous hurt,” “using dangerous weapons,” “criminal intimidation” and “common intention”, but despite video evidence and medical proofs no arrests were made.

Pastor Muchaki said police pressurised the Christians to settle with the attackers in a “compromise” agreement, avoiding legal proceedings. “This is the third time Christians have been attacked since 2014 in this village, and every time, police pushed for compromise,” said the pastor, who sustained severe head injuries and bruises all over his body in an attack that year.

Forced compromise

On 6 July the Christians were summoned to the local police station and were “threatened and pressured” to agree on a compromise, according to Pastor Muchaki. “We had no intentions to compromise, and we were very clear on that,” he said. “There was a huge language barrier that worsened matters.”

The Christians and villagers belong to the Gondi tribe but police spoke in the Odia language, and this led to the Christians agreeing to sign a settlement that they thought was a form requesting their consent to take action against the perpetrators. Pastor Muchaki said that had they known they were signing a compromise they would have insisted that the villagers sign that they would have no objection to their worship and would never again disturb them.

The officer-in-charge told the Christians that if the villagers trouble them again they should record video clips that police would certainly act on, but the victims were very discouraged by their inaction. “We had videos, pictures, medical report and blood oozing wounds speaking louder than words, enough to give adequate reasons to the police to take action, but they chose not to,” Pastor Muchaki said.

Several Christian organisations held a peaceful protest on 2 July to demand the immediate arrest of the perpetrators. The protest was attended by more than 7,000 people.

(Morning Star News, Persecution Relief)

Photo credit: Manglu Madi for Morning Star News