Resubelpara, Aug 29: In a shocker, one of the oldest churches in Garo Hills in the village of Daram in North Garo Hills (NGH) was vandalised with the statues of Jesus, Mother Mary, St Joseph as well as the statue of a baby Jesus being desecrated.
The attackers also tried to damage the holy crucifix placed on the upper portion of the church wall above the altar where the holy Eucharistic is celebrated, but ended up destroying the leg of the idol.
As per reports, the incident allegedly took place on the night of August 22 though it was not reported until the evening of August 25, a day after the new superintendent of police, Shailendra Bamaniya, took charge.
The reason for the delay in reporting was mainly due to members of the church attending a convention in Tura, West Garo Hills.
An FIR was lodged on August 26 by the church members following which an investigation into the matter is currently being undertaken.
The desecration of the church raised an alarm in local circles though with an earlier incident being perpetrated by a mentally challenged person, the situation was kept in control.
The same person, as per police, was again on the suspect list though no arrests have been made until the writing of this report, owing to its sensitive nature. Daram also falls under a remote section of the district.
