It is not immediately evident that Fr Vijay Kumar has lived through hell. Sitting around a dining table with his genial Maltese sponsors, he seems relaxed as the jokes flow readily between them.

"He is smiling now", says Francis Saliba, who sponsors Fr Kumar with his wife Gemma, "but the first time we heard his voice after the riots..." His voice trails off, but the silence speaks volumes.

Fr Kumar, 49, serves in his home state of Orissa, India. On August 23, Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati was shot dead about five kilometres from Fr Kumar's mission station in the district of Kandhamal.

Saraswati was a member of the hard-line Viswha Hindu Parishad, a political party at the heart of a Hindu nationalist campaign in India. He was an outspoken critic of Christians, claiming that they were converting low caste Hindus in the region through bribery and coercion.

"Before Saraswati came, everyone was living in peace. We cooperated with each other and celebrated each other's feasts. After he came, he started making accusations and organising things to spread Hinduism," Fr Kumar says.

Although Maoist rebels have admitted killing Saraswati, suspicion among the majority Hindu population fell on the Christians.

"When they started taking the dead body, they began saying that the Christians had paid to have the leader killed. Therefore, they said they should kill all the priests, nuns and missionaries."

Fr Kumar remained in his isolated mission station for a few days, but the situation soon deteriorated.

"On August 25 I was still there. I heard our priests had been beaten up, and one of the nuns had been gang raped. The bishops' house phoned and asked me to leave the station."

Taking practically nothing with them, Fr Kumar fled with his assistant priest, three Christians and a Hindu friend on three motorbikes.

"We leave together, we die together", says Fr Kumar, his jovial demeanour fading as he forces himself to relive the horrors of his ordeal.

They travelled about 80 kilometres before reaching a remote village at around 7.30 p.m. However, they were not there for long before the village was attacked and they had to run for their lives into the jungle, leaving their motorcycles behind to be torched by the mob.

After walking for about 55 km, they came to an isolated jungle village where they stayed for six days before the telephone started functioning and they were able to arrange for a car to take them further.

When they eventually made it out of the district, Fr Kumar wanted to go to the local bishop's house but the area was unsafe. Instead, they drove south to Andrapolis where he was admitted to hospital and treated for 15 days for exhaustion and high blood pressure.

Although Fr Kumar survived, many more Christians were not so lucky. The official government death toll stands at 31, but an investigation by India's Communist Party estimated at least 500 died.

"Many were killed and burned, one Christian was buried alive... so many incidents, I'm not able to tell you about them all, because I escaped."

One who was not so lucky was Fr Bernard Digal, 48, a relative of Fr Kumar. He was beaten and left for dead on August 25, a week after he had visited Fr Kumar with a birthday cake.

Christians caught by the mob were given the choice to convert to Hinduism or die.

"In heart, many of them have not truly converted; they have done it out of fear for their lives. They even burnt the houses of many of those who stayed and reconverted."

Fr Kumar was in Malta for six days last week, staying at the home of his sponsors in Mellieħa.

"He is like one of the family", Ms Saliba said, who began paying for Fr Kumar's seminary training in 1982 through the Mission Fund. Following his seventh visit to Malta, Fr Kumar has returned to Orissa.

He says: "Certainly, we must continue with our work. People need to be counselled, because fear is in them. And we should pressure the government to give us 100 per cent safety and compensation for what we have lost, so that we can start again. But it will take time; so many villages are burnt now."

"Where I was working I cannot go. They (Hindu extremists) have made a list (of people they believe paid to have Saraswati killed) and my name is there. Until they realise that it was done by somebody else, I cannot return. But I'll go to my diocese."

To assist Fr Kumar in any way, call Francis Saliba on 2152 0292.