Orissa death toll stands at 27, no fresh violence reported

Orissa death toll stands at 27, no fresh violence reported
(ICNS)
The death toll in the two-week long anti-Christian violence in Orissa stands at 27, Church people said adding that they keep watch on the situation although no fresh violence is reported in the past few days. Church people in Orissa have confirmed 27 deaths. The violence began after Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his associates were killed in Orissa's Kandhamal district, where the Hindu religious leader was based. Hindu radicals have destroyed more than 4,000 houses in the state and also burned several schools, churches, convents and presbyteries. Mobs also attacked some 300 villages in the violence. Maoists have claimed responsibility for the killings, but Hindu radical groups continue to blame Christians. The miscreants went from place to place freely destroying institutions and houses one after another. The police force was totally inadequate in number and most of them had no weapons. Occasionally police were the first ones to flee. The only helpful thing they were able to do was to inform the priests, sisters and people to flee and look for their own safety.