The activities of the missionary group that was attacked by local people at the colony near Kilimanoor in Thiruvananthapuram are suspicious . A thorough investigation is needed regarding this.
The following points may be noted 1) The missionary team which entered the village at Kilimanoor on Monday was headed by one Pastor Benson Sam and his wife. Mr. Benson and his wife are the second and third accused in the case of abduction and sexual molestation of a minor girl at the Bible College at Keraladityapuram near Sreekaryam (Thiruvananthapuram). In her deposition before the police the girl had said that she was sexually abused by Benson and at many times presented to foreign missionaries who visited the center. The girl was finally rescued on September 22nd 2002 by local people of Keraladityapuram.
2) The American Bishop Joseph Cooper who was injured in the Kilimanoor incident is said to have entered the country on a tourist visa . A tourist visa does not permit missionary work. Furthermore, a foreigner is legally obliged to obtain prior permission from the Central government before engaging in missionary activities. In this context ,the work of this missionary calls for scrutiny.
3) Benson and team were opposed by a section of the villagers the last time they came here. This is because the miracle cure ceremony which they conducted involved smearing of a substance on the body of people including women. This team also used to abuse the Hindu gods and goddesses as part of their prayer.
The Thiruvananthapuram RSS Vibhag Karyavah has clarified that the organization has no involvement in the attack on the Protestant group at Kilimanoor .There is an effort on to blame the Sangh and affiliated organizations for this incident. Innocent Sangh workers are being taken into custody in the name of questioning. The RSS strongly protests against the motivated campaign that is being mounted against it even before the real culprits have been identified and arrested .It is to be noted that the Chief minister Mr A K Anthony himself has said yesterday (15 Jan) that it is not clear whether the RSS was involved in this incident or not.