Monday, May 17, 2010

India: Endless violence against Christian women of Kandhamal

Bhubaneswar (AsiaNews) – Christian women were beaten, abducted, suffered sexual and verbal violence during the August 2008-2009 anti-Christian pogrom in Kandhamal district, Orissa. Now a group of researchers connected with the College of Social Work Nirmala Niketan in Mumbai have conducted a research on the violence, the first step to finding a solution.

A team of 16 between 6 and 12 May interviewed a group of 300 women from several villages in Kandhamal, visiting the sites and their homes to gather information on their social situation and housing and families.

Sister Anita chat services, Daughters of the Heart of Mary, is a teacher at the Nirmala Niketan Center who participated in the research. She told AsiaNews that "women and girls of Kandhamal have suffered various forms of violence" such as cases of beatings, sexual violence, insults and threats, kidnapping, and have had to flee from their villages. According to information gathered, the Hindu extremist assailants belonged to different clans and tribes and came from different regions.

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