INDIA Orissa, two Catholic priests attacked and robbed in their homes

The attack took place at night in a parish church in Rourkela diocese. The students were beaten with hockey sticks and iron rods and then robbed of all the money collected for the school and hostel. In another incident of violence in Telangana, Muslims who were bringing cattle to the madrasa for the Eid festival were attacked.

Rourkela (AsiaNews) – In the Indian state of Orissa, two Catholic priests were attacked, beaten and robbed in their home by a group of masked thugs on Saturday. The serious act of violence took place in Jhorabahal, a parish in the diocese of Rourkela in the district of Sundergarh.

A dozen masked people broke into the priests’ house at night. The parish priest, Father Alois Xalxo, 72, and Father Nirial Bilung, 52, were beaten with hockey sticks and iron bars. They are in hospital but their condition is stable. “We were sleeping when the thugs broke the glass door and entered the church,” Father Xalxo said. “There were 10 to 12 people,” Father Bilung added. “They tied us up and when we screamed, they attacked and injured us. They stole the money kept in the church, as well as money from the hostel and the school.” According to police reports, the stolen money amounted to over a million rupees (more than 11,000 euros).

In a statement, the Rourkela diocese thanked the Jhorabahal community and the local police for their support of the two priests who were victims of the attack. “We ask for continued prayers for them,” the local church wrote, “so that they can recover soon and overcome the trauma. We urge everyone to be vigilant and take all precautions to ensure that incidents of this kind do not happen again.”

Also at the same time in India, in the town of Medak in the state of Telangana, other serious violence of a different nature occurred against the local Muslim community. The violence broke out when a group opposed the transportation of cattle to the Minhaj Ul Uloom Madrassa in Medak ahead of the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha, leading to clashes between Hindus and Muslims. The crowd also vandalised the madrassa, causing several injuries. The crowd also vandalised the hospital where injured members of the Muslim community were being treated. Members of the mob also damaged a doctor’s car.

In the course of these clashes, Telangana police arrested ten people, including three Bharatiya Janata Party leaders: Gaddam Srinivas, Medak district president M Nayam Prasad and another local Yuva Morcha politician.