Fact-Finding Teams Expose Violence Against Christians In Indian State Of Odisha
Three independent fact-finding missions conducted in Odisha between March and April 2025 have pointed to an alarming rise in targeted attacks, coercion and violations of constitutional rights against Christians—especially Adivasi and Dalit communities.
The teams, comprising lawyers, activists and researchers, visited Nabarangpur, Gajapati and Balasore districts and documented repeated instances of burial denials, forced conversions, police brutality and institutional failure, according to the reports sent to Newsreel Asia by Ajaya Kumar Singh, an independent law scholar and researcher who was part of the three missions.
In each case, the reports found that Christians were being systematically intimidated, their religious freedoms curbed and their basic rights violated — often with no action from local authorities.
Nabarangpur
In Nabarangpur, the fact-finding team documented at least eight cases between 2022 and 2025 where Christian families were denied the right to bury their dead. In several incidents, bodies were exhumed, desecrated or forcibly “converted” to Hinduism before burial.
In one case, the body of Saravan Gond, a young Christian man, was stolen after burial despite alleged police presence. His family was physically assaulted and driven out, and to date, they do not know what was done with the remains.
“The deceased’s mother and minor sister, who tried to intervene, were also beaten. The mob chased, disrobed, and assaulted them while hurling caste- and religion-based abuses,” reads the report.
In multiple villages, Christian families were forced to bury loved ones in remote forests or distant cemeteries because local Hindu nationalist groups refused to allow burials in village land — often demanding conversion as a condition.
In several cases, police allegedly stood by as families were threatened or abused.
One Adivasi Christian family was forced to sign papers claiming they had reconverted to Hinduism just to bury a parent. Another woman was denied burial space for her husband because her sons had adopted Christianity.
Gajapati
These denials of burial — rooted in religious identity—were not limited to Nabarangpur. In Gajapati district’s Mohana block, a fact-finding team recorded a case of alleged direct police violence against tribal Christians.
On March 22, police allegedly raided Juba Catholic Church without a warrant and attacked women and children preparing for Sunday prayers. Two girls, ages 12 and 18, were beaten and dragged into a police vehicle.
A 38-year-old cook in the church compound was assaulted and had her clothes torn. “Two male police caught hold of her neck and gave a strong blow to the face, tore the kurtis (upper clothes) of the woman pulling at the neck without any concern that they were outraging the modesty of the woman,” according to the report.
Two Catholic priests were then attacked, accused of being “Pakistanis,” and beaten so severely that one of them, identified only as Father D.N., a native of Gajapati district, suffered a fractured shoulder. Widows and their children were dragged from their homes, and the priests’ residence was looted. Religious icons were broken and food supplies destroyed.
Despite complaints filed, there has been no official response or acknowledgement. The fact-finding team noted that this was the first such incident in Odisha where Catholic priests were paraded and beaten by the police. Survivors remain in fear and shock, with no sign of action against the officers involved, according to the team.
Balasore
In Balasore district’s Raibania region, tribal Christians faced a wave of intimidation starting with the burial denial of Budhia Murmu on Dec. 18, 2024. Local Sarna Majhi leaders allegedly stopped the funeral, claiming that Christian burials violated tribal customs. This led to threats and boycotts against Christian families.
The priest who conducted the burial was later summoned by police, asked to produce caste certificates and informed that complaints had been filed against him — though he was not given access to the complaint itself.
It was claimed that burial by Christians violated “tribal tradition,” citing a misreading of the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, which was designed to protect tribal autonomy — not to sanction religious discrimination.
Further, church prayer services were disrupted, and local newspapers ran misleading reports blaming Christians for cultural erosion, according to the team. When officials called for peace meetings, the non-Christian groups refused to participate.
The fact-finding team found that local administration had failed to control the situation or protect the constitutional rights of the Christian Adivasi community.
Pattern to the violence
What emerges from these three reports is a pattern: Burial has become a site of religious coercion; police and local officials either indifferent or actively complicit; even after formal complaints, no action was taken; and tribal identity was misused to justify discrimination.
What is happening amounts to the weaponisation of tribal identity by certain groups who equate Christian faith with betrayal of culture and use that claim to deny burial rights and disrupt prayer services.
The reports note that many Christian Adivasi families have been practicing their faith for generations, yet are now being treated as outsiders.
Many Christian families reported living in fear — facing threats of social boycott, electricity cuts and verbal abuse. Some have left their villages or publicly disavowed their faith to avoid conflict. Others now live with the trauma of having been denied the chance to grieve with dignity. In cases where women were disrobed or attacked during mourning, the abuse was not only communal but gendered.
The other members of the fact-finding teams included writer and social activist Manas Jena, high court lawyer Sebati Soren, advocate Sujata Jena, social activist Jugal Kishore Ranjit, advocate Kulakant D., advocate Clara D Souza, advocate Thomas E.A., Gitanjali Senapati, Sis. Sophia M. Arockia Mary, and Balthazar.
This article has been published in partnership with Newsreel Asia.
Vishal Arora is an independent journalist based in New Delhi, India, who covers Asia and beyond. He serves as editor of @Newsreel_Asia and is a board member of The Media Project. He’s written for many outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The Diplomat and The Caravan.