A Christian family in Laos is experiencing a new round of oppression from local authorities after they exposed the persecution inflicted on them.
The International Christian Concern reported that the recently-widowed Seng Aloun and her family were driven out of their Buddhist-dominated village Dong Savanh, which is in Laos' Savannakhet Province.
As per Radio Free Asia, Aloun's neighbors were reportedly angry at them for practicing a foreign religion. The incidents took place after Aloun's husband died. Aloun and her family were attacked during the burial on December 6. The villagers beat the members of Aloun's family with clubs and the coffin with sticks when they tried to bury the patriarch in the cemetery.
"My husband died on Dec. 4 last year, and we took his body to the village cemetery two days later, but the villagers wouldn't allow us to bury him there. They struck his coffin with wooden sticks and hit my family members too," Aloun said.
Aloun was forced to bury her husband in their rice field but the Dong Savanh village's authorities expropriated their land last month. While villagers attacked their home by burning it down on February 23. This forced a dozen members of Aloun's family to flee the village and seek shelter with relatives.
The widow uploaded online the video of the villagers' attack during the burial in a plea for help to raise her children. Local police investigated the matter and ordered Aloun to take down the videos.
Similarly, the Phalanxay District authorities did the same on March 15. The district authorities invited the widow and local Christian church members to their office to discuss the conflict between the village and Aloun's family.
A Christian leader, who joined the meeting and whose name was withheld for security purposes, told RFA that Aloun was told by district authorities during the March 15 meeting to either take down the posts and videos or make changes to them. In particular, the authorities indicated that changes be made to the post by stating Aloun's home was burned by someone else and not the village's chief.
"At the meeting, the district authorities again demanded the family take down the posts and the videos of the burned home and the attack on the coffin, or to make changes to the posts," the Christian leader said.
But Aloun and her family refused to comply with the district official's orders. Aloun threatened to file a complaint with provincial and national authorities. The Christian leader then questioned the said officials why they have not undertaken any investigation on the village chief for what he has done to the family. The authorities responded with a promise to help the family find the arsonist.
Accordingly, the authorities are investigating the matter but deny that the attacks were motivated by religion. They have tagged the incident as purely the result of a personal conflict.
Aloun revealed her family experienced being driven out of their home before. The Union of Catholic Asian News reported that Aloun was driven out from the village in 2017. Local authorities and villagers did not like them because they believed in Jesus Christ. Aloun and her family were evicted because no one liked them there.
