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Indian church leaders criticise government response to alleged rape

Church leaders in India have said an inquiry ordered into the case of a young nun allegedly raped in Kandhamal province, amid anti-Christian violence in the state of Orissa, had been instituted only because of media criticism of government inaction in the cas, reports.

Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Bhubaneswar, whose diocese covers Kandhamal, said that what he described as belated action by the government of Orissa demonstrated it had been "embarrassed by media reports".

The alleged rape of the nun in Konjamendi took place on 25 August, when a mob attacked the 30-year-old nun and a local priest, the Rev. Thomas Chellan. The mob, said by Christians to be Hindu extremists, then paraded the priest naked through the streets together with the nun in torn clothes.

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TAGS: India anti-Christian violence persecution Hindu extremists nun government

[10/14/2008]

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