| Advocacy group slams acquittal of 17 accused in Kandhamal |
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John Malhotra A Christian advocacy group has condemned the acquittal of 17 riot-accused in Orissa’s Kandhamal district. The 17 were accused of torching houses in Shashipadar village Aug 26, 2008 when violence against Christians was sparked by the murder of Swami Laxmananda Saraswati. "All the seventeen accused have been acquitted as the charges leveled against them could not be proved for want of evidence," IANS quoted public prosecutor PK Patra saying. Bangalore-based Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) slammed the acquittal and demanded protection for witnesses "as there is a climate of intimidation and terror". Church leaders have expressed "deep concern" at the high rate of acquittals in the fast track courts. After the 2008 violence, there were over 3,200 complaints filed in different police stations of Kandhamal. Of these, the police have registered cases only in 832 instances. Only 89 persons have been convicted so far while as many as 251 have been acquitted and set free for want to witnesses against them, Archbishop of Orissa Raphael Cheenath had recently pointed. GCIC says it doubts credibility of those persons/police given the task of carrying out the investigations in the cases. "The right-wing ideology is deeply ingrained in the official personnel, that justice continues to elude our Kandhamal Christians," the advocacy group said. It sought the redressal of the cases "as the Kandhamal Christians suffer additional victimization at the hands of the criminal justice system of our Secular Democratic India." Source: Christian Today India Date: April 20, 2010 |
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2 Thessalonians 1:3“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater;”
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