Priest calls for police presence in church area
SEREMBAN:
The Visitation Church here has urged the police to set up a post near its
compound and conduct daily morning patrols in the area.
In
a press statement that came in the wake of Wednesday’s violence against two
nuns, parish priest John Gnanapiragasam said: “There have been numerous
incidents of break-ins into cars within church premises and surroundings, and
snatch thefts that have been reported to the police.
“We
hope and pray that finally a police pondok will be set up on Sundays in front
of the church on Jalan Yam Tuan and daily morning police patrols be carried
out.”
Gnanapiragasam
also gave some details about Wednesday’s attack, in which Catholic nuns
Julianna Lim and Marie-Rose Teng were seriously injured.
“Contrary
to numerous initial reports and unwarranted speculations and biased
interpretations by others, two of our 13 CCTV cameras have captured part of the
incident as it occurred, aided by our brightly lit garden lights,” he said.
“Based
on our CCTV recording, at 6.05am a passing motorcyclist, on seeing potential
victims, makes a U-turn and rides into Gate 2, a minute after the sisters’ car
had driven in.
“The
assailant, wearing a screened crash helmet and with a lighted torch in hand,
runs after the two sisters, who dressed in everyday clothes.
“The
assailant is seen running towards his motorcycle and taking off at 06.07am.
“The
sisters are then found lying on the ground when the main door of the church
opened at about the same time.
“The
ambulance from the Tuanku Jaafar Hospital arrives within minutes to take the
sisters to the hospital.”
Gnanapiragasam
recorded his gratitude to the staff of the hospital, saying they were giving
the nuns “the best medical and surgical care”.
He
criticised comments about the incident made on the Internet and in the
conventional media that he said had “sensationalised and politicised” the
incident.
“Given
the current tense situation in the country, any incident like this is
unfortunately immediately seen in relation to racial sentiments and religious intolerance,”
he said.
“We
appreciate the care and concern expressed by citizens, netizens, our Prime
Minister and our chief of police.
“We
want to reiterate that as Christians and in solidarity with all true Malaysians
we will continue to believe, pray and promote genuine racial integration and
true religious harmony in Malaysia.
“This
isolated incident and diverse reactions and differing responses are testimony
that crime, be it hate crime or theft crime, is a deplorable occurrence in our
society.”
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