US not pursuing sanctions over death of missionary John Chau at hands of remote tribe

John Allen Chau was killed on North Sentinel Island.

The US has not asked the Indian government to sanction a remote tribe that killed a Christian missionary last year, it has been reported. 

John Allen Chau, 26, was killed by members of a tribe living in isolation on North Sentinel Island when he tried to make contact with them to share the Gospel. 

The US citizen ignored regulations protecting the islanders by travelling to the island in the Indian Ocean with the help of fishermen. 

He was killed on November 17 when the islanders, who are hostile to outsiders, attacked him with spears and rocks. 

After his death, pages of his journal were discovered in which he wrote about his desire to tell the cut-off people group about Jesus. 

'You guys might think I am crazy in all this but I think it's worth it to declare Jesus to these people,' he said.

'This is not a pointless thing - the eternal lives of this tribe is at hand and I can't wait to see them around the throne of God worshipping in their own language as Revelation 7:9-10 states.' 

Attempts by authorities to recover his body from the island were abandoned because of concerns over the welfare of the tribe, which shuns contact with the outside world. 

America's Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, said in a press conference earlier this month that although Chau's death was a 'tragic case', the US was not pressing for India to bring murder charges against the tribe.

'A gentleman went to contact a tribe on one of the islands off in the Indian Ocean off of India, and was killed in the process,' he said.

'The United States Government has not asked or pursued any sort of sanctions that the Indian Government would do against the tribal people in this case.

'That's not been something that we have requested or have put forward.

'It's a tragic situation and a tragic case of what's happened, but that's not something that's been asked.'

Earlier this month, the missionary's father, Dr Patrick Chau blamed 'extreme Christianity' for the death of his son. 

Speaking to The Guardian, Dr Chau admitted he had been at odds with his son, a graduate of Oral Roberts University, over his missionary work.

'If you have [anything] positive to say about religion l wish not to see or hear' it,' said Dr Chau. 

'John is gone because the Western ideology overpowered my [Confucian] influence,' he said, adding that the outcome of his son's views was a 'not unexpected end'.

The organisation that supported Chau's mission trip, All Nations, told Christian Today that it did not agree North Sentinel Island should remain isolated.  It contended that Chau had been well prepared for his attempt to engage with the tribe and that he had not done anything illegal by landing on the island.