Mexico: Conflict over burial of murdered evangelical family

As reported by Mexican news platform El Debate on 28 February 2017, a case has been reported of a Christian family being beaten, tied up and (very probably) burned alive when their home was set on fire in Nayarit. The family belonged to the Assemblies of God church in Nayarit which has been involved in mission work in the mountain region for the last 14 years. NVI Noticias, reporting on the same day, stated that local Catholic inhabitants refused to let the non-Catholic family be buried in the local cemetery. An article on the website of La Prensa pointed out on 1 March 2017 that religious intolerance is a "serious problem" for evangelical Christians especially in Chiapas and Oaxaca. Rossana Ramirez, working for World Watch Research, explains: "According to the reports it is still unclear whether the murder was carried out for religious reasons. Although a solution for the burial was found, such cases of religious intolerance are not uncommon in Mexico."