Statue in Mysuru church vandalised, police launch probe

Mysuru additional superintendent of police Dr Nandini said: “Prima facie it appears as though they came to loot the three donation boxes. We are probing the incident from two angles (robbery and communal intention) but it does not seem to be like an attack on the church”.

A group of unidentified men allegedly vandalised a statue of baby Jesus in a church and decamped with its donation boxes near Karnataka’s Mysuru on Tuesday, police said on Wednesday.

The incident came to light on Tuesday evening when the priest returned to the church.

The incident took place at St. Mary’s Church in Periyapatna town, 60 kilometers from Mysuru, when parish priest John Paul and the staff were away after Christmas celebrations.

Periyapatna police inspector B Sridhar said preliminary investigations suggested the accused broke open the door and vandalised the statue of baby Jesus and some furniture in the church. They looted a donation box and escaped with two other similar boxes.

The incident came to light on Tuesday evening when the priest returned to the church.

“The incident took place on Tuesday between 9am and 6pm as there was no one in the church,” Sridhar said.

“The church authorities kept a wooden donation box outside the church to collect offerings from devotees. The miscreants stole the box, along with one other box. They also looted a third box. The exact amount that has been stolen is yet to be ascertained. A police dog squad and fingerprint experts have collected evidence from the spot,” he added.

Police are scanning CCTV footage of the area, the inspector said.

“I visit church everyday. On Tuesday too, I visited around 8am but everything seemed fine. This entire act has hurt our religious sentiments,” Augustine, a parishioner, said.

Mysuru additional superintendent of police Dr Nandini said: “Prima facie it appears as though they came to loot the three donation boxes. We are probing the incident from two angles (robbery and communal intention) but it does not seem to be like an attack on the church.”

She said the church has 10-12 idols and the accused did not touch them. They may have searched for the idol of infant Jesus, she said.

Mysuru superintendent of police Seema Latkar visited the spot and is supervising the probe. A case has also been registered under sections 454 (lurking house-trespass or house-breaking), 380 (theft in dwelling house), 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of Indian Penal Code at Periyapatna town police station.