ICC Note:
A Christian pastor in India’s southwestern city of Bangalore was beaten to death with a brick. Police are still searching for the perpetrators of this brutal crime and suspect persecution may be the reason for the attack. Pastor K.J. Thomas was discovered near his room at St. Peter’s Pontifical Seminary on Monday, April 1st. Expensive electronics were not taken from the pastor’s room, so police suspect intolerance towards Christians may be the motive for the killing. Attacks on pastors in India has seen a frightening increase in the past months. Is this just an escalation in the violence?               
4/5/2013 India (BosNewsLife) – Police in India’s southwestern city of Bangalore continued searching Thursday, April 4, for murder suspects after the priest and rector of a major Catholic seminary was found beaten to death.
K.J. Thomas, 64, was discovered by another priest lying in a pool of blood in the corridor near his room at Bangalore’s ‘St. Peter’s Pontifical Seminary’ early Monday, April 1, police and Christians said.
“The attackers killed Father K.J. Thomas hitting him in the face and head with a brick,” explained the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), an advocacy group representing churches and mission groups.
His face and body was mangled with priests and seminarians struggling to recognize him, according to police investigators.
Police initially said the motive for the attack was theft as some documents were missing from Thomas and administration. Critics questioned that explanation, saying his computer, iPad tablet and other personnel belongings were not touched.
WIDESPREAD ATTACKS
India has seen widespread attacks against Christian leaders and devoted church members at a time when Hindu hardliners try to halt the spread of Christianity, rights groups say.
Bangalore police said it would continue an inquiry into the murder, described as “brutal, terrible and senseless.”
Indian media quoted police as saying the priest was killed in a paved yard and that the assailants dragged the body to the room and cleaned the bloodstains of Thomas’ cassock. The midnight rain appeared to have washed away most of the blood, complicating the investigation.
The killing came as a shock for his sister and nun, who he was supposed to have picked up at the airport, seminary officials said. After her brother did not respond to repeated phone calls, Sister Jacqueline reportedly went on her own to the seminary where she learned he had died.
“The murder of Father Thomas has shocked the entire community, because he appeared to have no enemies, no problems,” the GCIC said in a statement obtained by BosNewsLife.
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