The Tribune, January 2, 2000
Church priest attacked
From Hitender Rao
Tribune News Service
PANIPAT, Jan 1 — At least eight armed miscreants assaulted Father Vikas while he was asleep in his room inside St. Mary's Church at 3 a.m. in Jyoti Nagar on the outskirts of the city.
The priest was assaulted with sticks and stones. He sustained multiple head injuries, fractured both his hands and had bruises all over the body.
He has been admitted to a private hospital here.
His colleague, Father Ashwin, who gathered the neighbours after hearing the shrieks of the priest, told TNS: "It was around 3 a.m. when I heard noises from the ground floor. I realised that there were at least eight to 10 persons. So I rang up the police first and then woke up our neighbours. When people gathered around the church and challenged the assailants, they fled. They yelled at us in Haryanvi.
The priest room was ransacked by the assailants — the cupboards broken, papers and files thrown out of the almirahs and blood splashed on the floor. It could not be ascertained whether the miscreants had taken away valuables and money.
Father Prasad, who had come from Kurukshetra to visit his colleague when asked whether he considered the attack to be the handiwork of communal elements, he said: "At the moment we can't say anything, but such a possibility cannot be ruled out."
The assailants had probably knocked at the door of the priest as there were no signs of forced entry. They then may have assaulted him with sticks and later dragged him to the adjoining bathroom where he was found bleeding profusely by his colleagues and neighbours.
The police took the help of sniffer dogs to trace the assailants who had scaled the wall of the church compound to gain entry. The police has begun investigations.
|
