Suspect in Killings of Indian Christian Pastors Confesses

A young man named Kokala Govardhan, aged 25 has fully confessed to the murders of two pastors, Pastor K. Isaac Raju and Rev. K. Daniel in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, southern India.

The brutal killings of Pastor K. Isaac Raju and Rev. K. Daniel in May shocked the Christian community of Andhra Pradesh and made several Christian leaders believe that both preachers were victims to communal violence that was surfacing in the state.

The body of Pastor K. Daniel, a preacher from Kummarvadi, was found on the periphery of the city on 20th May 2005, and had been disfigured by acid attack.

The body of Pastor Isaac Raju, missing from 24th May 2005, was found on 2nd June.

The police arrested 5 suspects in the case, as the investigation went further. There was a suspicion that the men were involved in plans to kill more Christian ministers in the area, as Indo Asian News Service reported.

The gang of Hindu extremists compiled a list of the targets, and as the police commissioner, V. Dinesh Reddy said, two or three other pastors were present on the list and the group already had started to threaten them.

The young man was arrested in the third week of June. Later he confessed and stated he was inspired by Dara Singh, a Hindu activist that was convicted for killing Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons in January 1998.

The extremist group wanted to send a message by the killings to the Christian community in India, as Govardhan said reporters in Hyderabad: "By killing the two pastors, we wanted to show the world that whoever tries to convert Hindus to Christianity will meet the same fate."

Soon after the gruesome murders, Staines' widow sent a message of forgiveness, as she had forgiven the killers of her husband and children. In a recent BBC interview she said: "If we don't forgive men of the wrong that they do, then how can we be forgiven?"