“I saw them kill my husband right before my eyes,” said Jime Kawasi, whose husband, 22-year-old Kosa Kawasi, was murdered in Bastar District on May 4. “I was assaulted, but somehow I managed to escape. I still fear that my husband’s killers will find me and kill me.”

After fleeing Kapanar village in Darbha block, she sought refuge in a house far from the murder site. The five other Christian families in the village, unable to find her, also fled the same day, including elderly people and young children.

Relatives, angry with Kosa Kawasi, killed him after villagers prohibited families with Christian members from participating in tribal festival offerings to local gods, sources said.

A mob of about 20 villagers, including Kosa Kawasi’s uncle, Dasru Kawasi, and cousin, Madiya Kawasi, went to his house at 10 a.m. and began to argue with him, demanding he renounce Christ, said area Christian leader Santosh Mandavi. When Kosa Kawasi refused, they began to assault him and his wife, he said.

Source: christianpost.com