Areesh
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NEW DELHI: Miscreants vandalized a church in west Delhi early on Wednesday morning — the fourth such incident here in the past seven weeks. A CCTV captured a miscreant smashing the glass pane encasing a grotto of the Church of Our Lady of Graces in Vikaspuri at 4.18 am before coming back with another man to topple a statue of Mary. Both fled immediately. The damage was found out two hours later just before the morning mass and police was informed.
Delhi archbishop Anil J T Couto found "a clear pattern of orchestrated attacks on churches to weaken the social fabric" and assistant parish priest Father Balraj Lourduswamy sniffed a "conspiracy" behind the incident. But police, who claimed to have identified the two culprits as local residents and probably petty criminals, said they might have broken the pane after laying a bet. A case of defiling a place of worship has been registered against them. Cops have beefed up the security of the church.
Footage from the CCTV installed outside the church shows a man on a scooter stopping in front of the building and joining his hands in prayer. He then bends slightly and punches the glass pane and flees in a hurry. A few seconds later, he comes back with his accomplice, sporting a turban and riding a motorcycle. The two topple the statue in the grotto before scooting off.
"The men did not come here with the intention to rob the church, but to damage the property. We suspect a conspiracy," Lourduswamy said.
Expressing his concern at the growing number of attacks on churches in the city, the archbishop said: "More and more churches are (being) targetted, vandalized and set on fire. This is very disturbing and we request the local authorities to take adequate measures to bring to book the miscreants who are threatening to weaken the social fabric of the country."
The church brought out a candlelight march in the evening to protest against the vandalism.
After studying the CCTV footage, cops said the main culprit could be in his late 30s and that the two might have committed petty crimes earlier. An FIR under section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) of IPC was filed.
Church vandalized in Delhi, fourth in 6 weeks - The Times of India
