Nuns in Bangladesh brutally attacked

Catholics in Bangladesh, a majority Muslim South Asian nation are outraged over an attack upon a convent where a large group of men invaded the convent premises and attacked with attempts to rape the nuns. The armed men reportedly attacked the convent of PIME, or Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions nuns in Boldipukur, a village mission in Dinajpur diocese in northern Bangladesh in the early hours of July 6.

The Boldi Pukur mission is located nearly 50 miles east of Dinajpur; its rectory, convent, and hospital were all objects of the attack carried out by the attackers. While Christians have before been attacked in the Muslim-majority nation, this is the first time that nuns have been targeted in particular. “It's unprecedented because nuns are highly respected in Bangladesh,” Bishop Sebastian Tudu of Dinajpur said.

According to Aid to the Church in need, the international Catholic charity agency, some 60 men attempted to loot the building and rape the nuns. The attack was the first such instance of violence against a Catholic institution in Bangladesh.

The attackers first tied the hands and legs of the mission's two night watchmen and gagged them in the early morning hours. They then broke down the door of the room where the assistant pastor Father Anselmo Marandy was sleeping, and he was robbed and threatened. They then raided the convent located in the mission campus. “The attack was massive and lasted about an hour and a half. The attackers brutally beat the nuns … the convent was seriously devastated,” Bishop Tudu told Aid to the Church in Need. “Only when the police arrived did the attackers leave the mission,” he reported.

Three nuns suffered attempted rape and were sent to their provincial house in Dhaka, the national capital where they are trying to overcome the shock and mental suffering. Twelve men have been arrested in connection with the incident. “The attack is obviously a targeted and planned attempt at intimidation. Nuns and priests are being attacked because they stand up for the disadvantaged and minorities,” stated Bishop Tudu. “The attack is clearly a targeted response to Catholics' commitment to the country's poorest people,” he said.

In response, Christians and rights groups in Bangladesh have demanded strict action against those charged in the attack. "We want exemplary punishment of those involved in the case," Nirmol Rozario, general secretary of the Bangladesh Christian Association said. Rozario also asked the government for a thorough probe on the attack and security for all the churches throughout the country.

"It's very sad that the sisters cannot continue to work for the people, our sisters are no longer safe," Rosaline Costa, a Catholic human rights activist lamented. "I have lodged strong complaints over the attack on these religious sisters," she says. "If the Church is not safe nobody will go to the seminary or formation house to become priests or nuns. It is a challenge for the Church," she added.

Christians constitute less than one percent of the Bangladesh's population, as do Buddhists. The population is 90 percent Muslim, and 8 percent Hindu. Bishop Tudu lamented that the 45 priests and more than 100 women religious serving in his diocese are now living in fear of similar attacks.

According to Aid to the Church in Need, the attackers sought deeds to land, seeking to steal it from poor and uneducated parishioners. A similar attack occurred in 2011 at a town in south-eastern Bangladesh which was home to Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists.

(Source: Catholic Online, Aid to the Church in Need)