The eight-member fact-finding team, consisting of seven advocates and a social activist, went for a spot visit to Juba, Mohana under Gajapati District in Odisha state on April 9, 2025, to investigate and assess the alleged incidences of assaults on the Priests and women that occurred on March 22, 2025, at the Church and residences. The team included advocates Clara D'Souza, Gitanjali Senapati, Thomas EA, Kulakant Dandasena, Sujata Jena, Anjali Nayak, Ajaya Kumar Singh & Subal Nayak.

The police raided a nearby village on reports of alleged cultivation of marijuana cultivation. This escalated to tensions and conflict between the people and the police; the police retreated back, facing resistance. There was seemingly a peaceful compromise between both parties. Juba village is an entryway to neighbouring villages.

Desecrating the Church
The Juba Church was being prepared on March 22, 2025, for the next day's (Sunday) prayers and worship by four young Adivasi women from the Khond tribal group; two young women, 20 and 18 years old, and two minors aged 12. Police, numbering around 15 personnel, barged into the Catholic Church around 1.30 pm before the young women could sense anything. The aggressive policemen broke the cleaning instruments and desecrated the sacred space of the Church.

Police entered the Catholic Church premises without a warrant and desecrated the sacred space in violation of Art 25– Right to Freedom of Religion, which includes the right to manage religious affairs and violation of Sec 298 of BNSS, 2023 – Injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion.

Assault, Abuse, and Molestation of Young Women
The two young women belonging to the Khond tribal group were beaten with sticks within the Church and then dragged almost 300 meters away to a police bus, being abused all the way. Seeing this, the two other minor girls ran towards the presbytery. Crying inconsolably and in shock, the girls asked for help from the priests who were in their residence within the compound.

Another young woman, aged 38, belonging to the Sabar tribal group, who works as a cook in the residence, came out to the portico, hearing the cries of the minor girls and was also beaten badly. Two male police caught hold of her neck and gave a strong blow to the face, tore the kurtis (upper clothes) of the woman pulling at the neck without any concern that they were outraging the modesty of the woman.

It is reported that the adjacent village children, some in the arms of their mothers, were not spared. The children and women were taken in the bus to a distance and left there, forcing them to walk the long distance back. A couple of mobile phones were snatched from the women and have yet to be returned to them.

Beatings and molestation of tribal women occurred in and around the church compound in violation of Sec 74 of BNSS – Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty and violation of Art 21 and POCSO Act, 2012 given that minors were involved and in violation of Art 15 (3&4) – Prohibits discrimination and calls for affirmative protection of women and tribal communities.

Brutal Assaults on the Two Catholic Priests
After violating the sacred space of the Catholic Church, the police followed the young girls to the Priests' Residence. Hearing the cries of the children and women, two Catholic priests had come out from their residence where they had been resting after attending a funeral service in the village.

In a flash, a female police officer attacked the priest with her cane. Fr JG, age 56, is a native of Pala, Kottayam in Kerala. He has been working for the development of tribal and Dalit communities that inhabited the hills for the last 40 years. Fr DN, a native of Gajapati district, was taken aback at the assault on him by the police. Both priests were dragged in two different directions, being beaten by the police all the way to the police buses some 300 to 400 meters away.

The Priests were accused of being "Pakistanis" and converting the people. Fr DN, who was ordained a priest only three months ago, had joined as an assistant in the Church. He was to celebrate his birthday that day. Fr DN was grievously injured with a fractured shoulder blade. At one time, he fainted and fell but was dragged onto the bus.

While the priests were being beaten, the children and women forgot their own trauma and protested to the police as to whether they were beating the religious men. The police then thrashed the cook for speaking up for the priests. Meanwhile, a group of police people entered the presbytery, drank the water, and reportedly took away 40,000 in currency notes from the priests' residence.

The brutal attack, led by a lady police officer apparently filled with hate, was carried on without concern for human dignity or any sense of respect toward the tribal community and the states of the priests as religious minorities.

Unprovoked assault on unarmed priests within a religious compound in violations of Art 19(1)(a) and (d)– Right to freedom of speech and movement as well as of the Indian Police Act, 1861, Section 23 – Duty of police to prevent offences and maintain decorum.

Widow and Minor Daughter in Mourning Assaulted
MM, aged 62, had lost her husband the previous night and had just returned from the burial ground around 10.00 am and was mourning along with her family and relatives. At the police assault, her relatives and others ran away, while she and her minor daughter RM, aged 17 years, stayed back. Both of them were beaten with sticks; the police didn't care that this family had just buried their beloved one and were in mourning.

The widowed mother and her minor daughter were dragged physically while being abused and beaten with the lathis carried by the police to the police bus.

Beating and dragging of a grieving widow and her minor daughter in Sec 5 of JJ Act, 2015– Punishment for cruelty to a child and violation of Art 39 (e+f) – Duty of the state to protect children and ensure their development.

Assaults on Vulnerable Christians
The team members were told the police forcibly entered and damaged the homes of the residents; approximately 20 motorcycles were destroyed, as were TV sets and whole foods supplies, including rice, paddy, chickens and eggs.

It was evident that the police were targeting Christians as they also broke and desecrated the status of Jesus and Mary.

Destruction of homes, food supplies, desecration of religious icons in violations of articles – Equality before the law and equal protection of laws and SCST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Sec 3(1)(r), 3(1)(s), and 3(2)(vii) – Offences of insults and damage to property of Scheduled Tribes.

Observations
Gajapati District is one of the lowest on the Human Development Index; in fact, it ranked 27 out of 30 districts. Gajapati is recognised as only one among 30 districts as a minority concentrated district with 38% of Christians. Gajapati is also one of the very few districts that have a tribal population above 50%.

The violence hit Mohana block is one of the least developed blocks in the district and 2nd largest block in Odisha, with only 37.11% female literacy rate and 93% people living in rural areas. As per Census 2011, of the total population, 7% of people live in urban areas, while 93% live in rural areas. The male and female literacy rates among the Scheduled Tribes are 55.4% and 32.8% respectively.

Gajapati district has a population belonging to both social and religious ethnic minorities, disadvantaged at multiple levels. The district police and the administration need to introspect themselves on their policies/decisions by addressing the issues of Adivasi, Dalit and religious minorities in the district in the spirit of constitutional, secular and democratic values.

Unfortunately, an incidence of this nature has taken place where innocents suffer at the hands of the police.
1.    There are no complaints lodged so far, even after more than 20 days since brutalities against children and women from tribal communities and violation of multiple laws.
2.    No information has been received on the complaints filed by the priest at the Mohana police station, as he has not been given any acknowledgement of the complaints. However, it is reported that complaints have also been made to the Superintendent of Police, Gajapati.
3.    The grievously injured priest, Fr DN, is in a state of shock and trauma along with the senior clergy. The fact-finding team could not interview him. There is palpable fear, insecurity and disbelief among the children, women and priests as the protectors have turned into perpetrators. This does not sound good for the administration.
4.    This is not the first time that Catholic priests have been targeted, beaten and paraded while showering lathis and abused by the police in Odisha's known history. This speaks for itself. There have been blatant violations of Art. 21, 25 and 29 of the Indian Constitution.
5.    The team believes it is the handiwork of some communally biased/casteist/anti-tribal police personnel towards religious minorities, with no sense of human rights and dignity for children and women. The family was not even allowed to mourn the loss of their member in scant regard to Art 21 (Right to life & liberty, a basic dignity accorded to the dead person).
6.    The team could not come across a proactive community and civil society to take note of the incidents of brutality here and facilitate the victims' survivors to address their grievances and seek justice. It could be ignorance or trust deficit against statutory bodies like N/OSCPCR, Women Commission, National/Odisha State Human Rights Commission/Scheduled Tribe Commission/National Commission for Minorities, New Delhi.
7.    The team did not get any other reports, even from the Media, on the brutalities of incidences and attacks on the children & women.

Recommendations for State Administration
1.    Identify and take stringent action against criminal elements among the police having communal and caste bias towards women, tribals and religious minorities. Immediate application of SC/ST (PoA) Act, POCSO Act, applicable sections of BNSS and Fundamental Rights enshrined in the Constitution.
2.    Activate community policing. Recruit police from diverse backgrounds and ground them in SC/ST Prevention Act, POCSO, and Women and Minority protection laws, as well as inculcate the spirit of respect for all religious spaces - temples, churches and mosques.
3.    Train the police with constitutional and secular values and principles to respect marginalised and religious minority communities and respect for all religious traditions and beliefs. Implement mandatory Human Rights Training for Law Enforcement under National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) protocols.
4.    Focus on holistic development programmes and open legal cells to support citizen-centric schemes for the region and encourage and facilitate civil society to work along the administration towards truth and reconciliation.
5.    The state administration should ensure that the police do not turn to vengeance. The police damaged houses, property, and livelihood and robbed the food supplies and livestock of the poor, which were their lifelines, thus losing trust and credibility among the citizens.
6.    There is a need for an interface between law enforcement agencies, district administration and civil/community leaders, whereby the trust of the communities can be restored and development processes accelerated.
7.    Media could play its role in augmenting as watchdog expected in democratic setups, bringing into light the brutalities and the plight of the people.

The report is based on the testimonies narrated by the victims, whose names have been withheld.