Marian statue decapitated in Mumbai

A statue of Mary was decapitated by vandals early Sunday morning in the western Indian city of Mumbai, and local Catholics allege the attack is a deliberate attempt to intimidate Christians from voting for candidates from their community in the upcoming local elections.  Father Nigel Barrett, spokesman of Bombay Archdiocese told UCANEWS that some men on two motorbikes came on Feb. 19 and smashed the glass-encased statue in the Kurla suburb of the city, decapitating it.  He said they were waiting for what the police have to say after investigation, but Joseph Dias, a Catholic leader and founder of the Mumbai-based Catholic Secular Forum, said, “it is directly related to the elections.”  “It was a deliberate attempt to create a fear psychosis among the people as the area is Catholic dominated," he told UCANEWS.

Civic elections in the city are scheduled for Feb. 21 and Christians have been campaigning for political parties to back their choice in Christian-dominated areas as candidates. The umbrella group of some 100-odd Catholic organizations and groups called the Church in the City, claims to represent some 500,000 Catholics in the city.  Dias said their campaign has put an "unusually big" number of Catholic candidates in the fray in Christian dominated areas and some political parties are now worried. "They are making attempts to frighten Catholics not to come out and vote," he said.

For administrative purposes, the city is divided into six zones each having a deputy municipal commissioner. The zones together coordinate 23 wards and more than 250 councilor wards under each ward. Some of the councilor wards are Catholic dominated areas.  However, police refused to attribute any motive to the attack. (Source: UCAN)