Churches burn as violence spreads in India's Orissa

(September 1, 2008) Hindu mobs have burnt at least four more churches in eastern India, officials said on Monday, as religious violence appeared to spread. Thousands of people, mostly Christians, have taken shelter in makeshift camps in Orissa state, where Hindu mobs went on the rampage last week after a Hindu leader was killed. Last week officials said the violence appeared to be abating after Hindu and Christian leaders called for calm, but over the weekend it spread to new parts of the state. Mobs set fire to four churches in the districts of Koraput and Rayagada, confirmed the Police Reports. Two churches and several houses were also burnt in the Kandhamal district, the epicentre of the tension, despite a curfew imposed in most of its towns, one of the state's leading newspapers, The Samaja, reported on Monday. The violence has drawn international condemnation, including from Pope Benedict. Local government officials revised the death toll to 14. Thousands of police and paramilitary forces have been deployed and claim that life is returning to normalcy. The Church groups say more than 26 people were killed in the week-long violence in Orissa, in which Hindu fanatics also burned down or destroyed some 4,000 Christian homes, more than 60 churches and convents.