INDIA: Three arrested for killing Catholic catechist

By John Newton and Javier Fariñas

A map of India, where Christians in Orissa state have again been targeted

Three people have been arrested in connection with the death of a Catholic catechist and human rights activist who was killed in India’s Orissa State earlier this week.

Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar in India told Aid to the Church in Need that the arrests had been made in connection with the death of Rabindra Parichha, whose body was found in Parichha Bhanjanagar in Kandhamal district on Sunday, 18th December.

Mr Parichha, 47, was the third catechist to be killed this year in Kandhamal, Orissa State – which was the scene of the 2008 attacks on Christians where 54,000 were made homeless after 4,640 homes were torched by Hindu extremists. More than 70 people died in the attacks.

Archbishop Barwa said: “Police have arrested three people in connection with the case and Hindu radicals could be behind the murder.”

The archbishop, who taught Mr Parichha as a student, went on to pay tribute to the murdered catechist.

He told Aid to the Church in Need: “Pariccha was a brave social worker in the field, in favour of Dalit rights,” referring to Mr Parichha’s work with the most disadvantaged social group in the country – who were formerly known as 'untouchables'.

Mr Parichha worked at the Orissa Legal Aid Centre.

According to the Fides news agency, local sources reported that the catechist left the family home after receiving a phone call from a neighbour.

After a fruitless search for him, Mr Parichha’s family alerted the police who found the body the following morning in the grounds of Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja College.

Mr Parichha’s throat had been cut and there were stab wounds to his hands and stomach.

Tagged with

• India
• Persecution

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