ICC Note: Police in southern India have been slow to respond to a church burning, only registering a FIR 10 days after the crime was reported. Attacks on Christians and their places of worship are increasing year after year in India. One of the major drivers of this trend is the impunity Hindu radicals enjoy following their attacks on Christian communities.
06/19/2018 India (World Watch Monitor) – A church in Puducherry in southern India was set ablaze recently, after upper-caste Hindu neighbors had objected to worship services in the area.
Puducherry, formerly Pondicherry, was a French colonial settlement until 1954.
Pastor David Santosham and members of the Bible Presbyterian church in Karaikal District left for home after concluding fasting prayers on 25 May.
At around ten past midnight, he received an anonymous call informing him that the church was on fire. “My rented flat is about five minutes away. I rushed immediately. The church was in flames,” Santosham told World Watch Monitor.
“My daughter called the fire brigade; she passed word to church members also.
“[Some who came] complained to the police of strong-smelling gases, suspecting that it could be the cause of the fire, urging them to investigate… My wife and I had taken care to switch off the lights and turn off the electricity supply before we left as usual.”
The church’s roof, made of tar sheets and bamboo supports, was reduced to ashes. Christian literature and musical instruments costing the equivalent of around $4,500 were also burned.
Santosham said that, after ten days of persistent visits to police in local Neravy, they finally lodged a First Investigation Report (FIR) on 6 June, citing section 436 of the Indian Penal Code against “unknown miscreants” for torching the church.
“I submitted my complaint on 26 May, but the police [at first] refused to register it,” the pastor said. “I was told if there has to be a FIR in this case, there will also be a counter FIR against me.”
…
For interviews with William Stark, ICC’s Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: [email protected]
