Unknown miscreant vandalizes Jesus Christ statue in Juhu, locals furious
The statue of Jesus Christ on a cross that was vandalized
A statue of Jesus Christ located at Juhu Tara Road in Mumbai was vandalized by an unknown miscreant on Sunday. The statue of Jesus on Holy cross was located next to Asha Colony opposite Hotel Sea Princess.
After locals found the statue dismantled and broken in pieces, Christian groups staged a protest outside the Santacruz police station to demand an investigation and apprehend the person responsible for the hurtful act. H – East Ward corporator Brian Francis Miranda was also present.
According to activist Nicolas Almeida, the desecration was carried out on Sunday with the intention of disturbing the community. While speaking to a leading daily, Almeida said, “This happened today because it was a historic day for the Indian Christian community which was rejoicing the canonisation of our very Blessed St Teresa of Calcutta. There is no other reason. We will meet the chief minister regarding this matter.”
Almeida, who works for Watchdog Foundation NGO, also said claimed that a police officer tampered with evidence related to the incident and demanded that the officer in question also be booked along with the culprits.
According to the activist, this was the fourth such incident under the jurisdiction of the Santacruz police in the past 18 months.
“The police needs to trace down the culprit immediately and take stern action against him. We cannot let something like this go unpunished. The action of whomsoever did this has hurt an entire community and he or she should face the consequences of the same. If the cops don’t take action, we will continue to escalate the matter till it reaches someone who is able to do something about it. I cannot even imagine why someone would even think of doing something like this,” said Allister, a local who was furious over the incident.
Meanwhile, the police registered a case against an unknown person for defiling place of worship with the intent to insult the religion under the Indian Penal Code. The Zonal DGP, however, did not confirm if the officer has been named in the FIR.
Santacruz police has already began a probe into the matter. As of now, police have no suspects.
