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Christian tribal community members were allegedly assaulted, harassed, and barred from holding prayers after a Hindutva mob entered the church in Kapena village of Odisha’s Nabarangpur district on Sunday, January 25.
According to The Times of India, the mob used loudspeakers to issue threats, warning Christians that the church would be demolished and that 30 tribal families who had converted would be expelled from the village if they continued their religious practices.
The reported quoted local resident, Tuna Santa, stated that when devotees questioned why they were being asked to stop praying, the accused reportedly locked the church from the outside and forcibly made everyone leave.
UCA News reported that the mob belonged to Hindu nationalist groups and warned the devotees to return to the Hindu faith.
The following day, locals alleged that two youths from the community, Jaladhar Santa, aged 17, and Mohan Santa, aged 20, were assaulted by the same mob.
A complaint was subsequently lodged at the Umerkote police station. However, the police reportedly did not act on it, stating that tension had existed between two groups in the village and that security personnel had already been deployed.
However, the inspector-in-charge of the station was quoted by the daily as saying there were no complaints filed, but police personnel were deployed to “contain the situation.”
The village of approximately 250 households is mostly comprised of tribals from the Gond, Bhatra, and Santa communities, who depend on farming for a living. Several tribal members had converted to Christianity over the years.
When Siasat.com reached out to Umerkote police, they were unavailable for a comment.
A peace committee was subsequently formed, including members from both communities, and a meeting was held under the supervision of the Nabarangpur sub-collector Prakash Kumar Mishra. Both parties agreed to maintain peace and refrain from taking the law into their own hands.
“As per the peace committee’s decision, 15 days’ time has been given to relocate the prayer hall and to both groups to resolve the issue and live in harmony as they did earlier,” the collector said.
The incident came just weeks after a pastor was brutally attacked in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district, while he was made to wear a garland of slippers and forced to eat cow dung.
Moreover, sindoor was smeared all over his face, as the mob made him wear a garland of slippers. He was then paraded around the village in a humiliating state for nearly two hours, and even compelled to bow before a temple and chant religious slogans.
Odisha has seen a sudden spike in anti-Christian activities, with repeated mob attacks on members of the community being reported. Christians make up around 2.77 percent of Odisha’s 42 million population, while Hindus and Indigenous communities together comprise nearly 90 percent.
This post was last modified on January 30, 2026 2:59 pm