Priest Attack In Mumbai: In Mumbai, two priests were attacked on Saturday night while returning from worship. The priests were assaulted by five miscreants armed with sticks and knives, the Mumbai police said. The attack was also serious but the priests were inflicted with minor injuries.
Police responded to the scene quickly, but the attackers ran away. Authorities later detained two suspects over the assault and the continued search for others. The police are investigating what motivated such an attack as they piece together what led to the incident.
The attack on the priests is part of a troublesome trend of violence against religious figures. As early as July, a 67-year-old priest was stabbed within temple premises in Malad by a youth identified as Suryanarayan Das. Das, dismissed from his role as caretaker of the temple cows for alleged activities of an illegal nature, attacked Mahant Madhavdasji Rambalakdas Mahatyagi during a daily ritual. The whole assault was recorded in a CCTV camera installed there. Subsequently, an FIR under attempt to murder was filed against Das and another unidentified person involved in the assault.
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Violence against priests raises alarms
It is not an isolated violence against religious figures. In April 2020, a mob lynched three people—a driver and his two seer companions in the Palghar district of Maharashtra for allegedly being child-lifters. The victims were traveling from Mumbai to Surat to attend a funeral when they were stopped and dragged out from their vehicle to be beaten to death.
Another blood-boiling incident in Uttar Pradesh where two priests were killed in Bulandshahr district confirms a most dangerous trend of attacks on religious personnel all across India. These incidents reflect a growing concern for the safety of religious figures and the need for increased protection and justice for such attacks.
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