Adding to the several attacks on Christian community in the last few weeks, a church in Agra was vandalised by unidentified men in the wee hours of Thursday.
The incident occurred at the St Mary's Church in city's Cantonment area. At around 3:30 am the head of the Church Father Moon Lazarus woke up from sleep when the car alarm buzzed off. When he came out of his room, the miscreants jumped out of the fence and ran away.
"Around 3.30 am I heard the alarm of my car. When I came out, I found all four doors of the car open and the wind-screen was smashed," NDTV quoted Lazarus as saying.
Lazarus said that the miscreants broke the glass box of statues, damaged them and even wrapped a dog chain around the statue of Mother Mary.
"The intruders intended to hurt our religious sentiments as they placed the head of child Jesus Christ in the hand of Mother Mary and attached a dog chain to the neck," Hindustan Times quoted Lazarus as saying.
The police have registered a case based on Father Lazarus' complaint, but no arrests have been made so far.
"It seems to be handwork of someone with sick mentality... the culprits would be brought to book soon," Agra sadar circle officer Aseem Chaudhary said.
Several such incidents have taken place in different parts of the nation, including New Delhi, in the last few months. Before the Agra church attack, a convent church was vandalised in West Bengal's Nadia district and a nun was allegedly gangraped by six men.
