A church in Tamil Nadu was destroyed in a suspicious arson attack, Matters India learnt on May 11. According to Shibu Thomas, founder of Persecution Relief, the incident occurred on April 24 at Thittacherry, Nagapattinam.

Member of the “Jesus with us” had gathered in the church for a fasting prayer meeting.

The meeting ended late in the evening and after everybody had left, pastor Sachin Paneerselvam, locked the sanctuary and left for his home, 12 km away.

A few hours after reaching, Paneerselvam and his family were getting ready for bed when he got a call from the local Naneelan station at 11 pm that the church building was on fire.

Thomas, who heads Persecution Relief, an ecumenical church group, said Paneerselvam wanted to rush to the church, to help put out the fire and salvage the contents. However, the police were adamant that he should not come to the spot as fire-fighters were battling the blaze. Police said that they would investigate the cause of the fire to ascertain.