Tribal relatives killed three members of a Christian family in India’s Odisha state last month, leaving three children, including a preteen and a teenager, orphaned and forcing them into hiding, sources said.
Jitendra Soren, 35, his wife Malati Soren, 32, and their 15-year-old daughter Sasmita were killed on Jan. 25 in Nialijharan village, Keonjhar District, by relatives whose tribal religion led them to believe the victims’ conversion to Christianity had caused illness in the family, a relative said.
Accused of the killings were Jitendra Soren’s older brother Baidyanath Soren, also known as Badiya Soren; Badiya’s Soren’s son Sudam Soren; and Jitendra Soren’s younger brother Laxman Soren, sources said.
Malati and Jitendra Soren are survived by three children: 21-year-old daughter Pana Soren, who lives with her husband’s family about 60 miles away; son Suguda Soren, 18, a student who lives in a hostel in Bhubaneswar; and their youngest daughter Rani Soren, 12, who lived with her parents.
Though the police complaint and local media framed the killings as caused by a land dispute, the family’s Christian faith played a central role in the murders, the slain couple’s son said.
“Our being Christian had a huge role in their murders,” Suguda Soren told Morning Star News.
Suguda Soren was in the hostel on the evening of the killings.
Police registered a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 on Jan. 25 under First Information Report (FIR) No. 31 at the Ghasipura police station at 11:30 p.m. for “murder” and “criminal act with common intention,” leading to the arrest of the three suspects. The case was registered in the name of the deceased’s oldest daughter, Pana Soren.
Both Pana Soren and Rani Soren witnessed the attack and narrowly escaped with their lives.
Motives
Jitendra Soren began following Christ eight months ago as his prolonged illness was taking a toll on his family.
A friend gave him a pastor’s cell phone number and suggested he request prayer.
“Jitendra called me and asked for prayers,” said the pastor on condition of anonymity. “I prayed for him over the phone and he felt much better.”
The Soren family then began to attend church regularly, and Jitendra Soren was completely healed.
Anil Kumar Nayak, a Christian leader in Bhubaneshwar, confirmed to Morning Star News that Jitendra Soren had suffered “severe liver damage,” and that “his physical and spiritual healing strengthened his and his family’s faith.”
Jitendra Soren’s brother Badiya Soren noticed he was completely healed of his illness and confronted him about his Christian faith, the slain man’s son said.
“When we came to faith, my uncles objected to our faith and often argued with my parents,” recalled Suguda Soren.
When Badiya Soren’s daughter fell ill and began experiencing recurring fevers, he blamed his daughter’s illness on Jitendra’s Christian faith and the family’s regular church attendance.
“Badiya blamed Jitendra, saying he went to church and through witchcraft transferred his illness to his daughter, thereby healing himself,” said the pastor.
Two days before the killings, a Friday, the Soren family attended a church service. When they attended again the next day, Badiya Soren noticed and confronted his brother about “going to church and practicing witchcraft.”
“Then on Sunday [the day of the killings], my uncle threatened my father and said that if his daughter did not recover, he would kill the entire family,” Suguda Soren told Morning Star News.
The Attack
At about 5 p.m. that day, Jan. 25, Jitendra Soren and his family returned from the service and were relaxing at home when Badiya Soren’s daughter’s condition worsened.
“He immediately rushed towards my father along with his son and my second uncle, carrying bamboo staffs and an axe,” said Suguda Soren, recounting what his sisters told him.
Badiya Soren forcibly entered the house and began hitting Jitendra Soren with the bamboo staff, threatening to kill him, Suguda Soren said. Hearing the commotion, Jitendra Soren’s daughter Sasmita Soren ran toward her father, pleading with her uncle not to hurt him.
When Sasmita intervened, Badiya Soren’s son Sudam Soren stepped forward and slit her throat with the sharp axe, killing her on the spot, Suguda Soren said.
When Malati Soren ran to her daughter’s body, Sudam Soren slit her throat as well, killing her, Suguda Soren said.
After witnessing the bloodshed, Jitendra Soren fled from the house and ran for his life, begging his brothers not to kill him.
“My papa repeatedly said that he had done nothing, urging them to not kill him, but they did not heed his plea,” Suguda Soren said.
The three men chased him, beat him with bamboo staffs and ultimately killed him with an axe, according to Suguda Soren.
Pana Soren was visiting her parents’ home that day with her two toddler children. She and her younger sister Rani witnessed the attack.
Hearing the commotion, Rani, who was carrying one of the toddler children, and Pana Soren ran toward their father, screaming.
“My uncle Badiya Soren told my sister Pana to flee for her life if she did not want to be killed too,” Suguda Soren said. “‘You have no place in this house anymore. You are married and do not belong to the Soren family,’ they said. Uncle shouted at her for visiting the family even after marriage.”
As soon as Rani heard them threatening to kill her older sister if she did not flee, in fear she left the toddler on the floor and ran to an adjacent village, Suguda Soren said.
Pana Soren, in shock, grabbed her children and ran to a different village.
Upon reaching the other village, Rani informed local residents about the killings, and they called police.
Not Property Dispute
Suguda Soren said his uncles had disputes about the land but never physically attacked or harmed his father for the property.
“It was always a verbal argument,” he said.
Nayak, the Christian leader in Bhubaneshwar, acknowledged that Jitendra Soren had property disputes with his brothers, but they were repeatedly resolved through intervention by the village head and other local residents.
“However, after Jitendra’s family began practicing Christianity, disputes intensified due to faith practices and cultural differences,” said Nayak.
Suguda Soren said his uncles’ accumulated anger over the family’s Christian faith led to the killing of three family members.
He and his youngest sister Rani have taken refuge with a Christian family and refuse to return to the village.
“We are scared to go back,” he said. “How can we trust them after they have killed our parents and sister?”
Villagers, he said, brought him a message from his relatives urging the children to return home: “You have nobody now. Stop following Christ and we will take care of you and live together.”
Suguda Soren refused, saying, “We will not leave Christ. We will live as Christians, and when we die, we will die as Christians.”
Follow-up
Suguda Soren submitted an application to the Superintendent of Police in Keonjhar on Feb. 9 requesting the case be transferred to an independent agency for a fair investigation.
In the application he highlighted the hostility of the villagers towards the Soren family because of their Christian faith.
“Though the crime appears to be premeditated, hate-driven and extremely brutal, the FIR has reportedly projected it primarily as a property dispute, which does not reflect the full and true background of the incident,” he said, requesting the case be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation or similar independent agencies.
Rani Soren submitted another application Feb. 10 to the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) in Keonjhar, a statutory body that provides free legal services to the marginalized.
Prayer Meeting
The pastor and other Christians decided to hold a prayer meeting at the house of the deceased.
“Though there was a lot of risk, all the Christian leaders said that holding prayers in the residence is what would bring peace to the surviving family,” he said.
After applying for police protection, church leaders held a large prayer meeting with officers present in Nialijharan village at the residence of the late Jitendra Soren on Monday (Feb. 16).
“Around 400 people gathered for the meeting, and by the grace of God the program was blessed,” the pastor said. “Police protection was provided.”
Nayak requested prayer for the three children, especially for Suguda Soren and Rani, “for God’s supernatural peace to guard their minds, for deep emotional healing, and for their physical safety under church protection.”
He also requested prayer “that the truth behind the violence, driven by religious hostility, be brought to light. Pray that the authorities act with integrity and that the legal process reflects the reality of the persecution they faced.”
