By: PTI January 24, 2005
The cross erected on the gate of a Home for the Aged, run by a group of Christian nuns, at Ambernath in Mumbai suburb, was damaged by some miscreants, police said here today.
Some handwritten pamphlets, asking the nuns to leave the convent, were also left behind during the incident late last night, according to Sister Diana, in-charge of Teresian Carmelites Convent.
"The inmates heard some noise of motor bikes and things being broken at 2 AM on Sunday. But in the darkness the miscreants could not be identified", she told PTI.
"They broke the cross and left behind pamphlets, carrying handwritten messages `Run away, we will come back... Go away, this country is ours... Now it is the cross, next time it will be your heads'", she said.
"The Home was set up three years ago and we have never had any problem before. We received a lot of cooperation since we moved in here. There had been no opposition from any quarter so far, hence we are surprised by the attack", said Sister Diana, who was away at the time of the attack.
The convent houses 17 inmates, including 12 elderly women, who are taken care of by the nuns. Ambernath police said the matter was being investigated. "We have also provided police protection to the Home", police said.
Meanwhile, the All India Catholic Union (AICU) and the Bombay Catholic Sabha today condemned the attack. "We urge the police and government to provide police protection and apprehend culprits immediately", Dolphy D'Souza, National Vice President of AICU said.
