KOLKATA: A group of people allegedly vandalised a church during its inauguration in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district and attacked priests as well as devotees, injuring them, police said on Sunday.
Officials said the alleged incident occurred at Narayantala under the Basanti police station limits on Saturday, when Bishop Subrata Chakraborty and several priests along with devotees had gathered there for the inauguration ceremony.
"We have received a complaint that 30-35 people entered a church premises and assaulted those present. Women were also allegedly attacked and asked to remove their traditional 'shakha' (white bangles) before being forced out of the premises," a police officer said.
The attackers allegedly vandalised a Cross of the church, assaulted priests and devotees, and smashed mobile phones of those trying to record the incident, he said.
They also threatened to prevent religious activities at the premises, according to members of the congregation.
Police have initiated an investigation into the incident, which drew condemnation from the Bangiya Christiya Pariseba (BCP), a Christian organisation, which termed the attack an attempt at intimidating the minority community.
Herod Mullick, the founder state secretary and the working president of the organisation, said, "This is an unprecedented incident where miscreants have beaten up multiple priests during an inauguration ceremony with the bishop present."
"Organised groups take the law into their own hands to target peaceful minorities. Having faced no meaningful deterrence from the administration or the government, these attackers have grown reckless enough to torture priests of an established church without hesitation," Mullick said.
A couple of weeks earlier, three Christian families in West Bengal's Paschim Medinipur district had complained to police that they were threatened and assaulted by a group of people to force them to renounce their faith.
The aggrieved families, which converted to Christianity around 18 months ago, had also complained to police that they were forced to participate in certain religious rituals against their wishes.