Five days after eight Hindu Munnani workers forcibly entered and disrupted Sunday prayers at a church in Kanyakumari on Gandhi Jayanthi, the police have so far managed to arrest only one person in connection with the case, while the others are still absconding. The Hindu Munnani workers have been booked by the Kanyakumari police for rioting, criminal trespass and insulting religious beliefs.
On Sunday, October 2, a group of Hindu Munnani workers carrying their flag had entered the London Mission Church at Veerabaghupathi in Suchindram in Kanyakumari district and disrupted the Sunday prayer service. The unruly group allegedly issued death threats to Jebasingh who was leading the prayers at the church. The right wing group was opposing the construction of a prayer hall at Veerabaghupathi near Puththalam village.
The entire sequence of Hindu Munnani workers entering the church and threatening the devotees was captured on camera and the video of the attack went viral on social media. According to the First Information Report (FIR), the complainant Jebasingh has alleged that the locals in his village of Veerabaghupathi have been opposing prayer meetings at the London Mission Church for quite some time. “Every week, we conduct prayer meetings between 8.30 am to 11 am at our church. On October 2, at around 9 am, a group of men and women from both his village and outside gathered near the church raising slogans and forcibly entered the church to disrupt the service,” he added.
According to the FIR, at one point, the group started abusing the devotees and issued death threats. “The group threatened to kill everyone if we continued to hold our prayer meetings at the church and the devotees are worried about their safety,” Jebasingh said in his complaint, seeking action against the protesters.
Based on the complaint, on October 2, the Suchindram police registered an FIR against eight Hindu Munnani workers viz. Suresh, Marthandan, Vijaya Kalyani, Kannan, Jagan, Mahalingam, Sudalaimani and Ramu under sections 147 (rioting), 294(b) (obscene acts and songs), 447 (criminal trespass), 295(a) (insulting religious beliefs), and 506(1) (criminal intimidation).
The Kanyakumari police arrested 38-year-old Suresh in connection with the case on Monday. However, the other accused named in the FIR are still at large.
On October 3 evening, Veerabaghupathi residents gathered and staged a demonstration against the arrest of Hindu Munnani cadre and said their complaints to close church prayer halls were never taken seriously by the police.
Kanyakumari District All Minorities Federation filed a petition to the collector’s office to take action against the people involved in the attack. TNM tried to contact the Kanyakumari Superintendent of Police, but failed to get a response.