A Christian mother in India has been stripped, beaten and killed in a mob attack thought to have been motivated by religion.
The mother, Samari Kasabi, was from the village of Dokawaya, in Chhattisgarh. She was stripped naked, beaten to death, then burned by her neighbours, The Daily Express reports. The mob who killed her were looking for Kasabi's son, Sukura, 35, and his family, but then killed Samari instead.
Sukura reported his mother's death to the Sindgarh police, and several arrests have taken place. The village chief was detained for two days but then released without charge.
The mob's motives for the attack are unknown, although it is feared that it may have been motivated by religion.
Christian charity Open Doors reports that the family has previously been abducted by Naxalites, an Indian Communist guerrilla group, because of their Christian faith.
However, the family told the militants they were praying for the sick and the needy in their village, and so were released. The Sukura family have insisted however that they have been continually hounded by the Naxalite militants.
Hoping to escape this violence, other Christians in the village have renounced their faith.
Open Doors sent a team to visit Sukura in Dokawaya. In response to their visit, Sukura said: "Since the day I came to faith no Christian leader from any place has visited us. This is the first time someone has come and prayed for us. Thank you so much."
There are approximately 63 million Christians in India, while 80 per cent of the country's 1.3 billion population identify as Hindu. In five of India's states, is it a criminal offence to convert to Christianity, with anti-Christian restrictions in place in other states aggravating fears about religious oppression and persecution.
