Indian priest found murdered along remote road in Karnataka state

(July 31, 2009) A Catholic priest was found murdered July 30 in Belthangady, a remote area near Mangalore in southern India. The naked body of 39 year old Father James Mukalel, was discovered on a roadside in the morning by passers-by, reported the Asian church new agency UCA News. The priest worked in the Belthangady Diocese, a Syro-Malabar diocese, which has its headquarters near Mangalore in Karnataka state. Father Thomas Kannankal, a diocesan social work director, said the deceased priest was returning to his parish after attending the funeral of a former parishioner in the Thottathady parish and after visiting a few families on July 29. Father Mukalel was a priest of the Tellicherry Archdiocese in the neighbouring state of Kerala, but opted to work in Belthangady, serving in the Kutrapady parish at the time of his death. Belthangady diocese had reported some violence against Christians in the past year and police are enquiring into them, the priest said.