Rajni Burnt to Death: A Case of Mistaken Identity

http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/2008/09/17/rajni-burnt-to-death-a-case-of-mistaken-identity/

[Anglican MainstreaM] 18 Sep 2008--Fr Edward Sequeira is among the victims of fundamentalist violence in Orissa. It was only by a miracle that he escaped from the burning of his orphanage, where his co-worker Rajni Majhi was burned to death. Now hospitalized in Mumbai, in intensive care, he agreed to talk with AsiaNews. For the priest, there needs to be international condemnation of the lack of respect for human rights and religious freedom that dominates rural India.

Fr Edward Sequeira, one of the victims of the violence committed by Hindu radicals in Orissa, does not hesitate to call them "terrorists". Groups connected to Sangh Parivar seized him, beat him for more than an hour, and then shut him inside a room that they set on fire. Fr Edward was able to save himself by taking shelter in the bathroom. Before he passed out, he heard the screams of Rajni Majh, who was tied up and thrown into the flames, where she was burned to death.

Initial reports said that she was a sister, then a lay missionary. Fr Edward explains that the girl was one of the many orphans he had rescued, and that she lived and worked in the orphanage he had founded.