Catholic Priests, Nuns, Catechist Attacked by Bajrang Dal Mob in Jaleswar, Odisha

Jaleswar, Odisha, August 7, 2025 — In a disturbing and brazen attack, around 70 Bajrang Dal members ambushed and assaulted two Catholic priests, a catechist, and two nuns near Gangadhar village ( mission station) under Jaleswar Parish, falsely accusing them of religious conversions.

The shocking incident occurred on August 6, when Fr. Lijo Nirappel, Parish Priest of Jaleswar, and Fr. V. Jojo of Joda Parish in the Diocese of Balasore, visited Gangadhar mission station for a requiem Mass marking the second death anniversary of two local Catholic men. Accompanied by two nuns and a catechist, the group arrived at the village around 5 p.m.

The Mass and fellowship meal began after 6:00 p.m., once villagers returned from their fields during the ongoing planting season.

But as they were leaving the village later that evening around 9 p.m., their peaceful pastoral visit turned into a nightmare.

"Hardly half a kilometre away from the village, in a narrow forested stretch of road, a mob of about 70 Bajrang Dal men lay in wait," Fr. Lijo told. “They first targeted our catechist who was on a motorcycle. They beat him mercilessly, dismantled his bike, drained the fuel, and threw it aside.”

The attackers then turned on the priests’ vehicle, stopping it by force and hurling communal abuses.

“They physically attacked us—pushing, pulling, and beating us badly. They punched us, snatched our mobile phones, and kept shouting that we were trying to make them Americans—converting them by force,” Fr. Lijo recounted, “they screamed: ‘Those BJD days are over, now it’s BJP’s rule—you cannot make Christians anymore.’”

Despite women from the village pleading with the mob and clarifying that the priests and nuns were invited for a prayer service, the attackers continued their assault. The priests alleged that the group hurled communal slurs and falsely accused them of conversions in front of self-invited media personnel who had accompanied the Bajrang Dal members.

“It was a planned ambush,” said Fr. Lijo. “They brought their own media to fabricate a narrative.”

About 45 minutes into the ordeal, a team of police officers—including a female constable and two male officers—arrived on the scene.

However, even in the presence of the police, the mob continued their tirade. Fr. Lijo informed the police that their mobile phones had been forcibly taken by the assailants, but no one in the mob admitted to having them or returned them.

“The police then told the mob they would take us to the station for inquiry, but in reality, they were just rescuing us from further violence.”

Fr. Lijo, a former director of Balasore Social Service Society—the social wing of the diocese—and now the parish priest of Jaleswar, expressed deep anguish over the incident.

“I never imagined something like this could happen in the Jaleswar area. We were simply performing a prayer service for grieving families, and we were attacked and humiliated on baseless allegations,” he said.

He lamented the growing trend of vilifying Christians with fabricated charges of forced conversions. “Even media houses are complicit,” he said. “They don’t verify facts—they just amplify what the mob says. That false narrative must be replaced with the truth.”

Fr. Lijo also confirmed that no First Information Report (FIR) had been registered at the time of reporting. “We are awaiting the visit of our bishop, Most Rev. Varghese Thottamkara, this afternoon,” he said.

Fr. V. Jojo, the visiting priest from Joda Parish, was deeply shocked by the unprovoked attack. “I had come simply to offer a prayer service. I never imagined such hostility for doing something so peaceful and sacred, he shared.

The incident has sent shockwaves through the local Christian community and raised serious concerns over rising religious intolerance and mob violence in Odisha.

Catholic Priests, Nuns, Catechist Attacked by Bajrang Dal Mob in Jaleswar, Odisha

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