ICC Note:
A court in India’s northeastern state of Orissa acquitted 54 people who were accused of participating in an anti-Christian riot that lead to the burning of Odia Baptist Church and 14 Christian homes in the village of Barkhama in 2007. This anti-Christian riot was only a small prelude to the mass violence that would be visited upon the Christian community of Orissa only a year later in 2008. After the murder of Swami Saraswati, Christians in Orissa were singled out by the Swami’s radical followers and for 3 months were the targets of mob violence. At the beginning of October, 7 Christian men falsely accused of the Swami’s murder were sentenced to life in prison in a trial that was 5 years delayed and anything but free and fair. These two court decisions illustrate the discrimination and persecution of Christians that still exists in Orissa 5 years after the 2008 riots.
10/30/2013 India (ICAN) – A court in Odisha’s Kandhamal district yesterday acquitted 54 people who were arrested for their alleged involvement in the 2007 riots in the communally sensitive district.
Additional district and sessions judge, Phulbani, Rajendra Kumar Tosh, acquitted them due to lack of proper evidence against them in the case.
The prosecution alleged that the arrested persons had allegedly set on fire an Odia Baptist church and 14 houses at Barkhama village in the district on December 25, the Christmas day, in 2007.
The district had experienced riots on the Christmas Day in 2007 and another such clash after the killing of senior VHP leader Swami Laxamanananda Saraswati in 2008.
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