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Deep in India's Punjab state, the wailing of grieving women shatters the stillness in the pocket-sized village of Munan Khurd. Inside a dimly lit hut, a group of women, their heads covered with long white scarves as a sign of mourning, sit with grief-stricken faces.

They mourn for Mushtaq Masih, 35, a Dalit Christian. In mid-August, affluent Rajput Hindu youths in the north Indian state of Punjab apparently murdered Masih after his dog entered a small Hindu temple. The killers reportedly threw Masih's body into a canal. The police, on finding Masih's body and declaring it unclaimed, had it cremated.

In Munan Khurd, a nondescript village dominated by the upper caste Rajput, the life of Dalit Christians is little different from what it is elsewhere in caste-ridden India. Dalits, formerly known as India's untouchable caste, face widespread discrimination despite legal protections of their civil rights.

Masih's death has sent shock waves through the region's 30,000 Christians. A fact-finding team of the United Christian Forum for Human Rights (Punjab) visited the village and accused the local police of mishandling the investigation. Team members believe Masih was first kidnapped and murdered, and then his body dumped outside the village. The team is taking the case to national commissions on human rights and minorities.

On September 20, 2,000 Christians mounted a protest rally in Munan Khurd. The local police have initiated an inquiry, but many Christians believe that is a mere bid to buy time.

The tragic incident happened on the night of August 12 after the Masih family's dog entered a Hindu Temple, which shares a common wall with their dwelling. After seeing the animal lick oil from a temple lamp, one young Rajput started berating family members.

When Masih demanded that the youth restrain himself, 20 young Rajputs from the village started beating him, a friend visiting from a nearby village, and his 68-year-old father.

"They didn't even spare my old husband," says Piyari, Masih's 65-year-old mother. "They hit him on the face with a stone and broke his cheekbone."

Masih warily returned home at 4 A.M. telling his family he was leaving for a nearby village. "My poor son. He was such a brave man, tall and robust," says a crying Piyari.

But Masih never returned. When family members did not find him, they reported him as missing to area police. "No one listened to us," Piyari says. "The police officer started abusing me. 'Don't bark', he told me."

After two weeks Masih's body was found in a canal about three miles from the village. Officers say the body was decomposing and unidentifiable, so they had it cremated. Later, family members identified their son from clothing and photographs.

With pressure building on the police, there appears to be some movement toward a fuller investigation. "The family of Mushtaq purportedly identified the deceased from the pictures and his clothes. The police have made best efforts and are looking at the case from all angles," police superintendent Chandra Sekhar told Christianity Today.

On family members' allegations that police did not respond to their complaint, Sekar says, "We did all that we were legally bound to do. There are established facts that the quarrel took place after the dog entered the temple, but murder or no murder is yet to be found out."

The Masih family has named five Rajput Hindu youths as suspects. Masih left behind aging parents, a young wife, Easter, 30, and five children between the ages of 7 and 15. Masih, a builder, was the only breadwinner of the family.

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November 13 2000, Vol. 44, No. 13