MALLASI, India — A pastor in Assam state was murdered and cremated before family members learned of his death through a photo of his body in the newspaper.
The body of Son Englang, 35, was recovered alongside National Highway 37 on May 20 with marks indicating his hands had been tightly bound before he was shot.
The pastor from Mallasi village, Karbi Anglong district, supported by Gospel for Asia (GFA), had reportedly been kidnapped early in the morning of the previous day as he rode his bicycle to the Bokakhat marketplace to buy paint materials for his nearly completed church building.
The unknown kidnappers, suspected Hindu extremists, reportedly took him to the jungle to kill him.
Local police took his body to a hospital in Golaghat, where he was cremated without being identified after three days.
“The hospital along with the local police cremated Pastor Englang’s ‘unclaimed body,’ as there is a provision in the hospital of holding a body for a maximum of three days,” said Juby John, Karbi Anglong diocesan secretary of GFA.
News of his death reached his family four days after he was killed when they saw a photo of his body published in local newspapers reporting him as unidentified.
“With great difficulty, his photo could be recognized,” said John. “It was a semi-decomposed body. Pastor Englang’s brother with a few villagers identified him and then informed the pastor’s wife.”
John said Englang had evangelized in the Daithor area for 14 years, and “many, many people came to the Lord because of his extensive evangelism.”
Anti-Christian elements in the area likely had taken note of Englang’s fearless evangelism and the church building on the verge of completion, John said.
“Pastor Englang gave me a phone call just three days before he went missing,” John said. “He was very happy and excited about the completion of the church building and said it was his dream come true.”
He had served with GFA since 1996, ministering in Karbi Anglong, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the site where his body was recovered.
Along with his wife, Englang is survived by a 6-month-old son and a 3-year-old daughter.
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