Christian teenager murdered by fiancé in India

A 19-year-old Christian woman from a Hindu background has been murdered by her Hindu fiancé, after he was told by the girl's parents that he must respect her Christian faith.

A 19-year-old Christian woman from a Hindu background has been murdered by her Hindu fiancé, after he was told by her parents that he must respect her Christian faith.

Ashani grew up in a rural village in India. Ashani’s parents and their five children came to faith five years ago after God had healed Ashani from a serious skin condition. She received some Bible training and sometimes led prayer meetings in her village.

In March she went to her parents to ask if she could marry a Hindu man. Her parents agreed, but told the man that he had to respect Ashani’s Christian faith.

“Ashani really wanted to marry him and she was already 19 years old,” says a local Christian who was in touch with the family. “Many girls in India marry younger. And to find a Christian husband when so few people are Christians is really hard. When the guy called, they told him they were Christians.”

The next day, around 4am, Ashani’s mother discovered her daughter wasn’t home. At first, she just thought that Ashani had left the house early to pick some flowers at a nearby farm. When she didn’t come back, the family searched the village and its surrounding areas for the entire day, but they were unable to locate her.

Ashani’s mother called Ashani's fiancé to see if he was with her. “He was drunk, and he told her mother off,” the local Christian says. “He said that of course he wouldn’t leave with Ashani without her mother’s permission. She became extremely worried.”

Later that day, some women told Ashani’s mother that she had been found hanging on a tree in the forest. The police were informed, but rather than going to the crime scene, they told the villagers to collect the body.

Ashani’s parents were not allowed to see the body. Instead, the entire community put pressure on them to say that Ashani was insane and had committed suicide. The police recorded this, despite objections from Ashani’s father. “If she has been kidnapped, raped and killed, give us proof. Bring witnesses to us,” the police said.

So far, nobody has come forward. Ashani’s pastor later heard that there had been witnesses. A group of villagers had seen Ashani running through the forest, chased by a group of men. One of them was Ashani’s fiancé. Instead of helping her, the villagers went in the other direction.

“Ashani’s family are very scared,” say Open Doors partners. “They have four more young daughters. They are not safe at all. Nobody wants to give a true testimony and the police aren’t helping.”

Ashani’s family appreciates your prayers.

Violence in India

India is number 11 on the 2018 World Watch List, Open Doors’ ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution. In the three months of 2018, Open Doors partners in India have registered 216 persecution incidents. In most cases, Christians have been severely beaten, to the point of permanent injuries.

Ashani was the third Christian to be murdered for religious reasons during this period.

Open Doors works through local church partners in India to provide emergency relief for persecuted families, livelihood and community development, adult literacy programmes, advocacy support, legal seminars, training for church leaders and Christian literature.

Please pray:

• For protection for Ashani’s family, and that God will comfort and heal them
• For wisdom for those who are giving the family advocacy support, so that justice will be done
• That the police will undertake a serious investigation and that the perpetrators will be punished.