Saturday, May 17, 2014

Priest calls for police presence in church area

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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.”