ASIA/INDIA - Protestant Pastor killed in Orissa: "an isolated case, not motivated by religious hatred"

Bhubaneswar (Agenzia Fides) - Rev. Jiban Masi, a 70-year-old Protestant pastor, was killed on Sunday, October 9 by a psychopath in the village of Bada Raksi, in Sundergarh district, in Orissa. The district is located in the extreme western part of Orissa, bordering Chhattisgarh, and is very far from Khandamal area, the scene of anti-Christian massacres. As sources of Fides in the local church report, "the murder is a completely isolated case and not connected to the violence of radical Hindu groups".
The murderer, a young mentally ill person from the same village, called Manamasi Topno, killed him with the arrow of a bow, while the pastor was sitting outside his home. The villagers rushed to the scene, they wanted to punish the aggressor, and beat him to death. The two bodies were handed over to the local police who are conducting investigations.
Fides sources in the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar note that, "beyond this episode, we note different cases where Hindu extremist provocateurs try to stir up conflict: a few days ago, the militants placed the banner of a radical Hindu movement on the site of a Catholic church under construction. The police intervened and removed the banner. "(PA) (Agenzia Fides 11/10/2011)