"Jesus replied, 'What is impossible with human beings is possible with God.'"
Luke 18:27 [TNIV]

India

Victim of Orissa violence rescued from trafficking ring

Nearly two years after anti-Christian violence broke out in Kandhamal district, Orissa state, a team working against human trafficking rescued a 16-year-old Christian girl - one of at least 60 people sold into slavery after the 2008 attacks.

The recovery of the girl in Delhi on 9 August represented the cracking of a network that has trafficked Christian girls and women from Orissa to the national capital, sources said. The girl, whose name was withheld, is a tribal Christian who was sold into slavery along with her 19-year-old sister and two other girls, all victims of the 2008 violence; her sister and the other two girls remain missing.

The girl was used only for labour, although she was sexually harassed, sources said. Madhu Chandra, a spokesperson of the All India Christian Council AICC and part of the rescue team said, "She was physically abused, with teeth bite marks and bruises on her body – her neck, leg and right hand.”

"Human trafficking agents operating in the tribal belt of Orissa have targeted Christian girls displaced by the Kandhamal communal violence,” said lawyer Lansinglu Rongmei, another member of the rescue team. "Roughly 60 girls are estimated missing and have been trafficked to different states.”

Prasant Vihar Police Station House refused to register the girl's case. "The victim is from Kandhamal, let her go back to Kandhamal and register her complaint there," said officer Sudhir Kumar.

Source: Open Doors, Compass News Direct

Please join us in praying for India at the Open Doors prayer summit on 8-10 October, where our guest speaker will be Vijayesh Lal, an acknowledged expert on persecution in the Indian Church. For more details and to book go to: www.opendoorsuk.org/prayersummit

Please pray:

1. For spiritual and emotional healing for the rescued girl
2. For the other 60 missing girls sold into slavery following the 2008 violence in Orissa
3. Justice remains elusive for many of the victims of the violence in Orissa. Pray for decisive action to bring those responsible for the violence against Christians to justice.

With many thanks for your prayers.