Tribal mob halts Sunday service, locks church in India’s Odisha

A mob of Hindu tribal villagers disrupted a Sunday prayer service and locked an evangelical church in a village in India’s eastern Odisha state, amid growing concerns over rising hostility toward Christians in the region.

The incident occurred on Jan. 25 at the Blessing Youth Mission Church in Kopena village, in the predominantly tribal, forested Nabarangpur district.

“The mob of around 400 people, mostly local tribals, barged into the church at about 10 a.m.,” said Tuna Santa, a tribal Christian from the village, speaking to UCA News on Jan. 27.

Santa alleged the villagers were instigated by Hindu extremist groups.

He said the mob threatened to demolish the church and expel about 30 tribal Christian families from the village unless they returned to the Hindu faith.

“We tried to explain that we have been praying here for decades,” he said. “But they forcibly removed us from the church and locked the gate.”

Late on Sunday evening, two tribal Christian youths — John Santa, 20, and Jolandar Santa, 17 — were allegedly summoned by villagers and beaten, Santa added.

The youths filed a complaint at the Umerkote police station on Jan. 26, naming seven villagers. Christians said three of the seven named were among those who led the mob attack.

Police later visited the village, removed the lock from the church gate, and deployed personnel to guard the building, said Gourab Kauri, secretary of the Nabarangpur Christian Minority Council.

Kauri said district authorities attempted to mediate between the two sides on Jan. 27, but talks failed after villagers demanded that the church be moved out of the village.

“The authorities have asked both groups to hold another meeting within 15 days to resolve the issue,” he said.

The church is affiliated with the Blessing Youth Mission, an evangelical organization founded in 1971 and headquartered in Vellore in southern Tamil Nadu.

“The local tribal and Hindu villagers are being instigated by certain Hindu groups,” said Bishop Pallab Lima of the United Believers Council Network of India.

The bishop, who heads the ecumenical network, described the incident as part of a wider pattern of attacks.

“It is tragic that hard-line groups are pitting tribals against tribals,” said Lima.  

According to Lima, Nabarangpur district has witnessed at least seven incidents of anti-Christian attacks in the past 10 months, including disruptions of Christian burials and exhumation of Christian bodies.

The Odisha Lawyers Forum said in a May 2025 report, that several recent cases in Nabarangpur involved “denial of the rights of the deceased,” calling such actions violations of India’s Constitution.

Christian leaders say attacks have increased in Odisha since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed a government on its own in June 2024 after winning 78 of the state’s 147 legislative assembly seats, ending 24 years of rule by former chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

Christians constitute about 2.77 percent of Odisha’s population of 42 million, while Hindus and Indigenous communities together account for nearly 90 percent.

This article was originally published on https://www.ucanews.com/news/tribal-mob-halts-sunday-service-locks-church-in-indias-odisha/111724