Kolkata: Prayers were said at churches across India Sunday for an elderly nun who was gang-raped at a convent in an attack that has intensified anger over sexual violence and fuelled fears among beleaguered Christians.
The attack on the 71-year-old comes just days after India banned a documentary about the 2012 gang-rape of a student in Delhi, and with Prime Minister Narendra Modi promising to crack down on religious violence and ensure freedom of worship for all faiths.
The nun was attacked late Friday after a gang of about half a dozen robbers broke into a convent school in eastern West Bengal state and ransacked the premises, police said.
The robbers gagged a security guard before assaulting the nun. They then entered the principal’s room and stole cash, a laptop and a mobile phone, according to police.
Four of the six attackers have been identified through CCTV footage and a reward of 100,000 rupees (around Dh5,826; $1,500) is on offer for any leads on the suspects.
Arnab Ghosh, a police superintendent who visited the convent near the town of Ranaghat town, said the robbery appeared to have been carefully planned.
“CCTV footage showed that six men, aged between 20 and 30, scaled the boundary wall around 11.40pm and entered the school and disconnected the telephone lines,” he told AFP.
“At least two of them were armed and the rest were carrying burglary tools. In the chapel, a holy scripture was found torn and ... a bust of Jesus was broken,” Ghosh said.
Prayers were held Sunday at churches in West Bengal for the well-being of the nun, who is recuperating at a hospital in Ranaghat, some 70 kilometres (45 miles) from the state capital Kolkata.
“In our Sunday Mass, we prayed for the sister to recover quickly from trauma, fear and her physical injuries. We will pray for her again this evening,” Thomas D’Souza, the archbishop of Kolkata, told AFP.
“They not only committed a heinous crime, but they also vandalised the chapel ... This is the first time such an attack has happened in India.”
In the western state of Goa, which has a sizeable Christian population, the attack was condemned during the morning mass while there were also prayers for the nun in the national capital New Delhi.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal Commission for Women on Sunday said the police did not act even though the convent where a 70-year-old nun was gang-raped had been receiving threats from some quarters.
Commission chairperson Sunanda Mukherjee during the day visited the convent and met the nun who is undergoing treatment at a hospital.
“In November last year a student of the school was suspended on disciplinary ground following which some of the teachers received threats which was reported to the sub divisional officer,” said Mukherjee.
“A week back some miscreants entered the school and threatened one of the sisters saying ‘I will kill you’. A police complaint in this regard was promptly lodged, but no action was taken. There is no doubt about police inaction in this matter too,” said Mukherjee.
She said the commission was looking into the matter and would recommend steps against police officers found guilty of dereliction of duty.
Strongly condemning the incident, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday ordered the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to probe the matter and promised “swift” and “strongest action” against the culprits.
Earlier in the day, Governor K.N. Tripathi promised action and urged the general public to help the police in nabbing the criminals.
“The state government will take strict action in this matter,” Tripathi told the media.
“The administration will surely apprehend the culprits and punish them. I feel people should also come forward to help nab the culprits,” he said.
