8/11/2025 India (International Christian Concern) — A mob of 70 Hindu nationalists assaulted two Roman Catholic priests, a catechist, and two nuns in a forest on Aug. 6 as the clergy returned from a village gathering in Odisha, India.

This attack on the Roman Catholic clergy follows recent controversy involving the Bajrang Dal, which detained two nuns in Durg railway station in Chhattisgarh on allegations of human trafficking.

During last week’s assault, the nuns managed to escape, but the priests and the catechist were beaten and verbally abused with religious slurs. The attackers, some of whom were suspected members of the Bajrang Dal, also damaged the catechist’s motorbike.

Earlier that day, before the attack, Father Lijo Nirappel, parish priest of Jaleswar, and Father V. Jojo of Joda Parish in the Diocese of Balasore had visited the Gangadhar mission station for a requiem mass commemorating the second death anniversary of two local Catholic men. The two nuns and the catechist had accompanied them.

The mass and subsequent fellowship meal began around 6 p.m., following the villagers’ return from their farmland. The clergy departed the village at about 9 p.m., after which, less than half a mile from the village, the mob of Hindu nationalists ambushed them.

Expressing its deep anguish over this ambush in Odisha, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) strongly condemned the mob attack.

“This incident is not an isolated case but part of a disturbing pattern of violence against Christian minorities, reflecting a growing climate of intolerance in the country,” the CBCI said in a statement.

According to the CBCI, such actions are a blatant violation of the constitutional rights and human dignity of minorities. The rising trend of mob violence poses a grave threat to the safety, security, and peaceful coexistence of all communities.

The CBCI called upon the government of Odisha to take swift and decisive action to identify and prosecute the perpetrators, and to ensure the protection of all minority communities.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. To support ICC’s work around the world, please give to our Where Most Needed Fund.