How a 20 Year Old Girl Was Burnt to Death Watched by a Cheering Mob
Fr. Edward Sequeira, a priest belonging to the Society of Divine Word (SVD), was one of those who was seriously injured when his mission station was attacked by the mob in Orissa.
Currently recuperating at Burla Medical College Hospital, Sambalpur, Fr. Sequeira, upon gaining consciousness, narrated the story to his brother Commodore Valentine Sequeira who writes:
A large mob of more than 700 people were returning after attending the cremation of Swami Laxmananand Saraswati who was killed along with four others Saturday evening by suspected Maoist guerrillas at his Jalespata ashram.
The mob was chanting anti-Christian slogans and when they reached Padampur in Bargarh district, they attacked the orphanage where Fr Edward lived.
Ms. Rajni, a 20 year old student who lived in the orphanage and was also working as an auxiliary nurse in the orphanage confronted them.
When Fr Sequeira arrived at the spot, the mob locked him and Rajni into separate rooms, and ordered the children to vacate the orphanage. The mob then ransacked Fr Sequeira's room, poured petrol on him, Rajni and set the orphanage on fire. The ruins of the orphange that was burned own.
"I was engulfed in flames, I could hear the cries of Rajni and the mob was cheering and shouting through the windows," recalls Fr Sequeira.
He however, managed to crawl to the bathroom, beat out the flames and closed the windows.
"When I started to suffocate I found a crack on the wall that was damaged in the attack and kept my nose there to breath some air. All the while I could hear the cries of Rajni from the next room where she was writhing in agony. After sometime, there was silence and I thought she must have managed to escape from the room," recalled Fr Sequeira.
Unknown to Fr Edward, the girl was burnt alive and had breathed her last.
[Picture Below] - Rajni Majhi (20) who was burnt alive by the mob
People from the neighborhood who heard the cries of children rushed to the rescue, broke the walls and brought him to safety. That is when the mob attacked him again outside the orphanage and beat him up mercilessly till he became unconscious. He was initially rushed to the hospital at Padampur and later with the help of local officials was shifted to Burla Medical College Hospital, in Sambalpur.
"The cries of Rajni and the guilt of helplessness in saving her life will always haunt me," Fr. Edward sighs.
Source: Orissa Burning
_____________________________________________________
"'Father They Are Going to Burn Me": Rajni's Last Words
Fr. Edward, Survivor of Arson in Orissa Recalls How Rajni Was Burnt to Death
[Picture Below] Fr. Edward Sequeira SVD - Society of Divine Word
Fr Edward Sequeira, one of the victims of the violence committed by Hindu radicals in Orissa, does not hesitate to call them "terrorists". Groups connected to Sangh Parivar seized him, beat him for more than an hour, and then shut him inside a room that they set on fire. Fr Edward was able to save himself by taking shelter in the bathroom. Before he passed out, he heard the screams of Rajni Majh, who was tied up and thrown into the flames, where she was burned to death.
Initial reports said that she was a sister, then a lay missionary. Fr Edward explains that the girl was one of the many orphans he had rescued, and that she lived and worked in the orphanage he had founded.
Fr Edward is unable to hold back the tears, and begins sobbing when he talks about her. The crowd of fanatics may have thought that Rajni was one of the many people they believe have been forced to convert through "Christian proselytism". "'She was only a simple Hindu girl", the priest says, "studying in the plus 3 class. I can still hear her voice, 'Father they are going to burn me', these were her last words to me, after this I lost consciousness". Her death "is a deep wound in my heart".
Hindu fundamentalists have long been conducting a campaign against conversions to Christianity, and against evangelization. For Fr Edward, 58, missionary activity is something that upholds the dignity of the person. He spoke to Asianews:
"I have been working among lepers in Padampur in Bargarh district for the past ten years. I realized that, given the preference for a male child in rural Indian communities, parents many times have more than 4-5 daughters before a son is born - and unfortunately, these girls are rarely sent to school, they are made to graze cattle or even sent at early age as domestic workers or to the landlords, and many girls suffer from malnutrition.
"So I started a very small hostel-orphanage for girls, to give them opportunity and dignity through education and vocational training.
"One such girl in my orphanage was Rajni Majhi, who was born to Hindu parents who already had 5 or 6 daughters, and they gave her up for adoption to a Hindu tribal childless couple. Sadly, when the adopted parents after a few years conceived biological children, they began ill-treating and discriminating against Rajni, and in this reality she came to my orphanage four years ago. Within a few months, she was bubbling with life, the younger girls called her “Nanni’ (big sister), and besides studying in college in her 13th year, Rajni would be like a governess to the children.
[Picture Above] The ruins of the orphange that was burned own.
"All the development programmes for these leprosy patients and the other dalits have all been for Hindus. More than 25 years I have worked in Orissa, and not a single person have I converted to Christianity".
Hatred of Christianity and personal development is what drives radical Hindu groups to try to wipe out the presence of Christians and their institutions. "Who says that terrorists are only those who plant bombs and carry guns? This was a terrorist attack on Orissa. What about these Sangh Parivar members, who have been given the license to kill, destroy and plunder their fellow citizens? This was sheer terrorism unleashed on the Christians in Kandhmal district".
Fr Edward explains what happened to him: "On Monday August 25th, around 1.30 pm, as I was having lunch, there was a knock on the door. When I opened it, a huge crowd of more than 500 people were outside and asked 'Who is the priest?'. This is nothing strange, as often people come requesting my help, for my vehicle to drive them to a hospital or other such emergencies. As soon as I identified myself, they raised their arms holding all the weapons - axes, shovels, spades and iron rods.They took me outside in the courtyard and began hitting me, screaming abuses at Christianity and shouting 'Bajrang Bali Ki Jai; Yesu Christi Murdabada; Hail Lord Hanuman (editor's note: a Hindu god with the face of a monkey), destroy, eliminate Jesus Christ', beating me on my head, back, all over my body.
"The extremists thrashed me for nearly an hour (editor's note: Fr Edward still has bruises all over his body, and five wounds on his back).
"Then they entered my room, collected all the clothes and books and whatever they laid their hands on and piled it in the centre of the room, threw some kerosene on the pile, and some crude oil, and threw some gelatine sticks which they had brought with them and lit the fire and threw me into the flames and locked the door from the outside.
"Somehow, I was not frightened, there was definitely the divine presence in the burning room, and I went into the bathroom and locked myself in and shut all the windows. The whole room was engulfed in thick smoke and flames.
"The attackers were shouting Bajrang Bali Ki Jai; Yesu Christi Murdabada, and hurling abuses. They went to the garage and burned the vehicle, I could hear some of them on the roof setting fire from the top. Thick smoke was in the bathroom, where I was hiding, it was dark and full of thick smoke, and as I inhaled the smoke my only concern was for the children.
Rajni Majhi Who Was Thrown into the Fire by the Mob
"In the meanwhile, the children and Rajni, who witnessed the mob assaulting me, took the children inside their own orphanage room which is next to mine and bolted the door from the inside. The men who had climbed onto the roof entered the room and dragged Rajni outside with the children - some of the children escaped. They brought her outside my bathroom window. I could hear the cries of Rajni, and the mob was cheering and shouting through the window. These criminals tied her hands together - they made a huge bonfire in the orphanage room and threw her onto the fire. They used sickles, shovels and other weapons to prevent her from running away, these extremists did not allow her to even move from the burning flames".
Source: Orissa Burning
Leave a Comment: