SEREMBAN: Police are investigating yesterday’s attack on two Catholic nuns as a robbery but will also consider other possibilities.
Negeri Sembilan police chief Osman Salleh, who said this at press conference today, cautioned the public against speculations that could lead to religious tension.
He said a man wearing a full-face helmet used another helmet to attack Julianna Lim and Mary-Rose Teng in the compound of the Church of Visitation here some time between 6am and 6.30am.
He said Lim, 69, was still unconscious and Teng, 79, had regained consciousness but was still in a state of shock. “We’ll get a statement from her when she’s ready,” Osman said, referring to Teng.
He said police were also keen to interview Lim because she was the second to be attacked and therefore had more time to look at the assailant.
“She may have a better description,” he added. “In fact she screamed for help and then was attacked by the assailant.
We pray for her speedy recovery and Mary-Rose as well.” The only description police now have of the assailant is that he is thin and about 5 feet 7 inches tall. “There are 13 CCTV cameras around the church, including indoors and outdoors,”
Osman said. “However, two of them are faulty. The one aimed to the incident area has been faulty for quite some time.”
Osman said the assailant took the women’s handbags, both of which contained unspecified amounts of cash. Lim also had bibles in her bag and Teng had a mobile phone in hers. The two live in the same house in Rasah.
“Both came to the church for morning prayers and both were dressed normally,” Osman said.
He said police would investigate the case from “all angles although it looks like it’s a robbery”.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has condemned the attack as “appalling and senseless”. In an article posted on Facebook today, he said:
“The attack and robbery of two nuns in Seremban yesterday was an appalling and senseless act. Rest assured that PDRM [the police] are committed to finding the perpetrators and bringing them to justice. “I wish both Sister Julianna Lim and Sister Marie Rose a speedy recovery.”
