Odisha Christian cemetery desecrated

November 12, 2012 - A Christian cemetery in eastern India’s Odisha state has been desecrated by a group of unknown assailants. The news of the desecration of the Christian cemetery of the village of Midiakia in Kandhamal district, was released on Sunday, but Methodist pastor Gaurango Nayak discovered what had happened a week ago, when he went to the cemetery to pray. Vandals removed the crosses from every grave and felled some trees and bushes. According to the pastor, "in the next two days, all the mounds will be overturned." For the moment, the leaders of the local churches have reported the incident to police and officials, but the vandals have not yet been arrested. Police have declared the area out of bounds to prevent both sides from entering the cemetery. Midiakia village, that is home to Catholic, Methodist and Baptist Christians, has been targeted several times in anti-Christian violence, such as in 2008. In July last year a Protestant pastor was killed in an ambush by radical Hindus, but the police closed the case as an accident.