ASIA/INDIA - Catholic priest victim of an attempted murder

Guwahati (Agenzia Fides) - A Catholic priest was attacked in the state of Assam (in Northeast India) by an unidentified person and was hospitalized with serious injuries caused by machetes. Fr. Sushil John Soren, parish priest in the diocese of Tezpur, is currently being treated at the hospital in Guwahati. As confirmed to Fides by His Exc. Mgr. Michael Toppo, Bishop of Tezpur, the attack took place on June 20 and "we do not know the reasons of the attack", which could have fatal consequences.
In Fr. Soren’s parish there is a campus and a hostel for boys. According to the reconstruction of the facts, the priest went to the hostel to lead a prayer moment with young people.
As he was returning to the convent, a stranger followed him and tried to hit him with a machete on the neck. The priest avoided the blow that would have killed him, and received serious wounds on both hands. Young people flocked and the attacker fled when they heard the cries for help. The police is conducting the initial investigations and is searching for the attacker. Solidarity towards the priest and his parishioners are being expressed from the entire diocese. Assam is one of the seven states of Northeast India, a very unstable area of the country, crossed by numerous ethnic, tribal, religious conflicts. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 21/06/2016)

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violence

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priests

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