DEHRADUN, October 4, 2021 : The Hindutva terrorists vandalised a church and injured several Chritians in Indian distrubed state Uttarkhand.Over 200 men and women of Hindutva right-wing groups, vandalised a church in Roorkee-Dehradun area of the state.Several people who had assembled for morning prayers in the Church were injured on Sunday Oct 3, 2021.
According to the FIR registered by Prio Sadhana Lanse, the church pastor’s wife said that over 200 men and women belonging to the local Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party’s youth wing, barged into the church and started vandalising it and beat up the churchgoers.
The armed mob with iron roads, destroyed chairs, tables, musical instruments and photographs that were in the church.
Speaking to media, Lanse said that the attackers went on a rampage and smashed everything that came in their way.
“The frenzied mob, shouting slogans like ‘Vande mataram’ and ‘Bharat mata ki jai’, barged into the church, which is on the first floor of the building,” Lanse said. “They started beating our volunteers and the women attackers bashed up our womenfolk.”
The vandalism went on for over 40 minutes and Rajat, a church volunteer, suffered serious head injuries. He has been shifted to a Dehradun government hospital where his condition is stated to be critical.
Lanse also said that the women present, including her daughter Pearl, were inappropriately touched by the attackers. Another church follower, Akshi Chauhan, confirmed this. “I saw that an aged man had forcibly hugged Pearl and she was struggling to free herself. When I went to rescue her (Pearl), an attacker asked me what I, being a Hindu, was doing in the church,” Chauhan told the press.
The Hindu terrorist then dragged Chauhan away by her hair and beat her.
Sumit Kumar, an eyewitness, told The Wire that the attackers damaged the CCTV cameras fitted in the church premises before beginning their attack.
No arrests have been made and the Roorkee police station was tight-lipped about the incident the reports said.
The church has been functional for over 35 years and after the death of pastor D.R. Lanse due to COVID-19 last year, his wife Sadhana organises the prayer meetings.
“Following COVID-19 protocol, we allow only 12 people to attend the Sunday prayers and the rest of community members are connected through video call. The Hindutva attackers first damaged the mobile phone that was being used for the online prayers,” said Kumar.
The attackers outnumbered the number of those in the prayer hall. One attacker, Kumar said, picked up the church guitar and started stringing the chord, menacingly showing it to the womenfolk in the prayer hall, and then smashed it on the floor.
“The hooligans had a clear plan of first damaging the CCTV cameras and then snatching all our mobile phones before going on a rampage in the church. The attack on the church was well planned,” said Kumar. —source the wire