Indian police arrest two men for vandalizing Marian statue

Police in India’s southern Telangana state have arrested two Hindu men for allegedly vandalizing a Marian statue, prompting Church leaders to wonder if anti-Christian hate crimes were spreading from the north to the southern states.

This is the first time such an attack has occurred in Secunderabad, which is home to Hyderabad Archdiocese, Father T. Victor Emmanuel, the archdiocese’s procurator and chancellor, told UCA News on March 15.

The priest said the culprits were arrested on March 14, a day after the incident, and police said both men were drunk when committing the crime.

Police announced an investigation into the incident. However, calls to the Gopalapuram police station, where the case is registered, went unanswered.

The Catholic Association of Hyderabad, in a March 13 statement, said the entire incident was captured on CCTV cameras.

The footage showed the two masked men arriving on a two-wheeler around 3 am on March 13.

They shattered the statue’s glass casing after repeated attempts, removed the statue, and threw it to the ground before smashing it with a stone, according to the statement.

The perpetrators had covered the number plate of their vehicle, suggesting that the act was carefully planned, the statement added.

James Sylvester, coordinator and former president of the Catholic Association of Hyderabad, said the Catholic community is shocked and outraged by the deliberate attack on a sacred symbol of faith.

The attacks on Christians are now spreading from the north to southern India, he told UCA News.

John Dayal, a senior journalist and spokesperson of All India Catholic Union, said the attack carries a more coercive message, because the city of Secunderabad is the current seat of the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI).

Cardinal Anthony Poola of Hyderabad was elected the head of the Indian Catholic bishops’ national body on Feb. 7, making him the first Dalit prelate to hold the office.

Secunderabad is a twin city of Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana. The southern state is ruled by the Congress party that swears by secularism and democratic values.

The Catholic association urged the state government to probe the incident, prevent a repeat, and ensure the safety and protection of minority communities and their institutions.

Christians are a minority in Telangana, forming an estimated 1.2 million of a population of some 35 million people.

Most Christians come from socially poor Dalit castes, while Catholics constitute roughly half of all Christians in the state.

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