Priests, school girls join rally in India over nun gang-rape

Priests, school girls join rally in India over nun gang-rape

KOLKATA - Hundreds of priests, school girls and other protesters staged a peaceful rally Monday in the Indian city of Kolkata to support an elderly nun who was gang-raped at her convent school.

Nuns dressed in white habits joined other women of all backgrounds and ages, including girls still in their uniforms, to express their sorrow over the attack and anger over incessant levels of sexual assault in India.

Holding placards and banners that read "This world belongs to women" and "We want rape-free India", the crowd gathered quietly in a park in the centre of the eastern city as speakers took to a makeshift stage nearby to condemn the "unacceptable" attack.

"We are not violent, we are not witches. And we will launch a big protest if attacks on Christian minorities continue," Kolkata businesswoman Hari Joseph Marien told AFP.

Bank manager Partha Tripathi said she was prompted to join the protest because the crime was one "against humanity," adding: "It seems that even animals (behave) better." Later in the evening, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee faced hundreds of angry protesters in Ranaghat, 70 kilometres (45 miles) from Kolkata, where she had gone to meet the nun who is recovering in hospital.

The woman, aged in her 70s, needed surgery from injuries suffered during the attack.

The protesters, who were chanting slogans demanding justice and arrest of the alleged rapists, blocked Banerjee's car from leaving the hospital.

The chaos continued for over half an hour before the minister assured the protesters of immediate police action.

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Shocked and appalled

The nun, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was attacked after the robbers ransacked the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Ranaghat and stole cash and other items.

A holy scripture was also torn and a statue of Jesus was broken.

Police said Monday 10 men have been detained for questioning but no arrests have been made, even though the faces of four of the robbers were captured on CCTV footage.

The assault on the nun is the latest in a string of high-profile rapes in India and comes after a spate of attacks on churches that prompted Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi to promise a crackdown on religious violence.

Priests and other Christian leaders have blamed those attacks on religious hardliners, who are said to have become emboldened since Modi swept to power at general elections last May.

Modi had been heavily criticised for not speaking out earlier against religious violence and has also faced flak for remaining silent about a spate of mass "re-conversions" of Christians and Muslims to Hinduism.

Archbishop of Kolkata Thomas D'Souza stressed the morning rally was not against any political party, as fear and dismay mount in India's Christian community, which has been deeply upset over the recent attacks on churches.

D'Souza estimated that a couple of thousand people took part in the rally at which prayers were held and candles lit alongside a statue of Mother Teresa, a missionary who worked tirelessly in the slums of Kolkata.

"We have assurances from the government that the miscreants will be arrested, but not much headway has been made in this regard," he said of the rape.

The incident adds to a grim record of sexual assaults in India and comes during a raging debate over the banning of a documentary about a December 2012 gang-rape in New Delhi that sparked national and international outrage.

"I am shocked and appalled that something like this could happen," 20-year-old American Brianna Miller, who is studying in Kolkata, said at the rally.

Modi in February pledged a crackdown on religious violence and freedom of worship for all faiths in the wake of the vandalism and arson attacks on churches.

Around 80 per cent of India's 1.2 billion population is Hindu, but it is also home to large numbers of Muslims, Christians and Buddhists.

His government again came under criticism on Monday, with opposition lawmakers raising the nun's rape in the national parliament.

"Our PM has been saying again and again that he will ensure there is no attack on minorities. What is the sanctity of such assurances then?" asked D. Raja, a member of the Communist Party of India.

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