In Tamil Nadu and West Bengal states where the killings took place, area Christians assert that the murders were rooted in opposition to Christianity; specifically, radical Hindus viewing Christianity as a threat to Hinduism and Indian nationalism as a unified identify. In three of the four deaths, however, under-reporting obscured the acts or motives of the attackers.

In India's eastern state of West Bengal, where two brothers were hacked to death, villagers suspected the men's wives were practicing witchcraft, according to local press accounts and area Christians. A mob in Palashpari village, near Malda, attacked 38-year-old Sonua Pahari and 32-year-old Baishakhu Pahari with swords, sickles, rods and stones as they lay sleeping in their ...