Christian Women Leaders Urge President Murmu to Intervene Amid Rising Targeted Violence Against Community

New Delhi: A coalition of Christian women leaders, religious heads, community representatives, and Christian organisations has written to Indian President Droupadi Murmu, seeking protection against escalating persecution of Christians. The appeal comes after a six-month pregnant tribal woman in Chhattisgarh suffered a miscarriage following a violent attack over her Christian faith.
The incident occurred on January 2, 2025, in Bade Bodal village, Bastar, Chhattisgarh. According to the letter, 25-year-old Kunika Kashyap was praying for a sick relative when she was assaulted by village headman Ganga Ram Kashyap, his wife and their adult daughter for professing her Christian faith. The headman had followed her and began recording her conversation with her relative on his phone, suspecting she might pray. When the woman objected to this, he got annoyed and allegedly launched a violent assault. His wife and daughter joined in, beating her with a wooden bamboo stick, kicking her in the abdomen, chest, and head. She was hospitalised with severe injuries. Later, she suffered a miscarriage.
The letter highlighted that out of approximately 120 families in the village, 50 are Christian, including Kunika and her husband, who have practices their faith for over 20 years. “This incident has stunned our sensibilities. But this is not the first incident of its kind,” the appeal stated.
The letter also detailed a series of reported incidents of violence against Christians in states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, and Manipur. It particularly emphasised the situation in Manipur, where violence against Christian women has reached devastating proportions since May 2023 and continues to affect the community.
Reports indicate a significant rise in such incidents over the past decade, coinciding with the tenure of the current Union government. Recent data from the United Christian Forum (UCF) revealed that 2024 witnessed 834 incidents of violence against Christians, up from 734 in 2023. Reports by Omar Rashid for The Wire further highlighted how Hindutva activists have filed false conversion cases against marginalized caste members who choose to follow Christianity.
“These systematic attacks demonstrate an alarming pattern of targeted violence that threatens our community’s existence,” the appeal stated. It also noted that the violence has largely gone unnoticed by the wider population, political authorities, judiciary, bureaucracy, and civil society, possibly overshadowed by larger-scale violence against the Christian community.
Call for Action
The signatories, including Christian women leaders, religious heads, and community representatives, urged President Murmu to intervene. They called on the judiciary, administration, and police to work together to ensure prompt investigations, protection for vulnerable Christian women, action against perpetrators, and the implementation of constitutional safeguards. “Above all, such violence insults the Constitution of India, which guarantees not just freedom of faith but also human dignity,” the letter read.
This appeal follows a similar plea on December 31, 2024, when over 400 senior Christian leaders and 30 church groups appealed to President Murmu and Prime Minister Modi to address the rising violence against the community. Despite numerous past appeals, it remains to be seen whether the president or prime minister will take concrete action to address these concerns.