Prayers for nun gang-raped in Indian convent
Print Edition
PRAYERS were said at churches across India yesterday 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 Hindu nationalist 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 six 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 attackers have been identified through CCTV footage and a reward of 100,000 rupees (US$1,500) offered for any leads.
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, entered the school and disconnected the telephone lines,” he said.
“At least two 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 yesterday at churches in West Bengal for the wellbeing of the nun, who is recuperating at a hospital in Ranaghat, some 70 kilometers from 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 said.
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.
The gang-rape has added to the sense of fear among the country’s Christian minority which has been deeply upset by a spate of attacks on churches.
It also adds to a grim record of horrifying sexual assaults recently in India, which last week banned a documentary about a December 2012 gang-rape which sparked outrage.
Authorities said screening the documentary could have caused public disorder, but critics accused the government of being more concerned with the country’s reputation than the safety of its women.
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