Two serious incidents have occurred in recent days in rural areas of Jharkhand and Orissa in India. Several priests were forced to seek hospital treatment after being beaten, forced to sing Hindu hymns and robbed.
Newsroom, June 11, 2025, Gaudium Press – In recent weeks, a disturbing pattern of violence targeting Catholic priests in rural India has emerged, highlighting a growing wave of religious intolerance fueled by fanaticism. Two severe incidents in the states of Jharkhand and Odisha underscore the escalating persecution faced by Christian communities.
On the night of Sunday, in Samsera, located in Jharkhand’s Simdega district, five masked and armed robbers stormed a Catholic church, looting approximately 800,000 rupees (over €8,000). The assailants brutally attacked the priests, wielding sticks and weapons, and even held guns to their heads, forcing them to chant religious slogans under duress.
The parish priest, Fr. Ignatius Toppo, the headmaster of the Samsera school, Fr. Agustin Dungdung, and assistant parish priest, Fr. Roshan, sustained injuries and are currently receiving treatment in Bolba. Fr. Roshan revealed that the robbers used a duplicate key to gain entry, first breaking into Fr. Toppo’s room before attacking the others. One assailant carried a homemade gun, another a sharp weapon. Fr. Toppo noted that this was the third robbery targeting the Samsera church, raising concerns about a deliberate pattern.
A similar incident occurred in Odisha’s Sambalpur diocese between May 22 and 23. At the Carmel Niketan Ashram in Kuchinda Charwachi, seven assailants broke into the priests’ quarters while four others stood guard outside. They beat, tied up, and gagged two priests—Father Linus Puthenveet, 90, and Father Sylvin Kalam, 43—before stealing 30,000 rupees, a printer, and an electric piano. The attackers demanded money, but the violence appeared to extend beyond mere theft.
Msgr. Vincent Aind, secretary general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), described these incidents as more than simple robberies. “This is a way of persecuting, disturbing, and preventing these communities from carrying out their normal duties,” he told AsiaNews. “It is a sign that they do not tolerate any other religion, let alone any humanitarian gesture made possible by our good religious practices. These are different tactics of harassment and violence against Christians, showing disrespect for the Indian Constitution.”
In Odisha, Bishop Niranjan Sual Singh of Sambalpur echoed these sentiments, noting a troubling pattern in rural parishes: masked assailants target priests’ residences, binding and beating them mercilessly. “If the motive is really theft, why are only our clergy being attacked?” he questioned in an interview with AsiaNews. Despite filing an official complaint and appealing to authorities, no arrests have been made, raising concerns about impunity.
These attacks reflect a broader climate of intolerance toward Christians in India, particularly in rural areas. The repeated targeting of Catholic clergy, coupled with the lack of arrests, suggests a coordinated effort to intimidate and marginalize Christian communities. As Bishop Sual Singh emphasized, “The law must take its course” to address this escalating crisis.
Raju Hasmukh with sources from:
-AsiaNews. “Jharkhand, masked men attack and rob Catholic priests, forcing them to sing religious slogans.”
– AsiaNews. “Odisha, priests beaten and robbed in a Catholic ashram.”
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