MYSORE: Unidentified persons vandalised the Holy Family Church in Hinkal, near Mysore on Monday. The miscreants destroyed a statue of Mother Mary on the church premises.
The attack has shocked the Christian community in Mysore. Priests of various churches in the city have condemned the incident.
The church staff informed the parish priest of Holy Family Church, NS Marie Joseph, of the attack at around 6.30 am. Bishop of Mysore, Thomas Antony Vazhapillay, rushed to the spot. Marie Joseph said the police department had withdrawn security to the church, as there had been no church attacks in Mysore in the last two years.
Meanwhile, in Bangalore the window pane of Bethel Church was damaged in a scuffle between two drunk men. According to the police, Srinath and Naveen Kumar, were pelting stones at each other in front of the church. One of the stones hit the church window glass. DCP South East, B N S Reddy confirmed that it was not an intentional attack, but a damage made in a drunken state.
‘An act designed to create unrest’
The police — who deployed sniffer dogs and fingerprint experts to track the offenders — initially said that the miscreants could have accidentally damaged the statue in an attempt to break open the donation box. But the parish priest and the church staff maintain that the statue was destroyed with an intention of creating communal unrest.
They pointed out that the cash box had not been touched. This is the second attack on the Holy Family Church. The church was earlier vandalised in 2002.
MLA flays Govt
Chamundeshwari MLA Sathyanarayana on Monday condemned the attack, and urged the state government to protect the interests of minorities. He has alleged that there has been a rise in attacks on minority worship places since the BJP came to power.
Archbishop expresses dismay
The Archbishop Rev. Dr. Bernard Moras has expressed dismay at the fresh attacks on churches and desecration of sacred images in some parts of Karnataka. He said, “This is like a storm after a brief calm and a plethora of assurances that such incidents will not happen again”.
He will officially communicate his disappointment to the Governor, chief minister and the home minister.
“Anti-social elements indulging in activities that create communal disharmony and hurt the sentiments of any religious community must be dealt with firmly,” the Archbishop said.