The Deacon's Bench
“I condemn this gang rape of this young nun in the strongest possible terms. This is gang rape is physical and emotional terrorism against our woman” Card. Oswald Gracias, president of the Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) tells AsiaNews reacting to the attack on a nun in Orissa. The religious of the Franciscan Missionaries of St. Joseph, lived in Chennai (Tamil Nadu) to continue her studies.
“This violation of our young woman religious – said the cardinal – is evil act inflicted on this woman religious who has consecrated her life to God Rape is an abhorrent crime and an abominable transgression against the honour of women and reflects abysmal state of women in our society, community and nation”.
Considering the dynamics of the attack, the cardinal stressed that “this wasn’t a random act of barbarism, it was meticulously planned allegedly as an act of retaliation and this heightens the gravity of the deplorable and utterly reprehensible crime.”
A 28-year-old nun was kidnapped and raped for a week by a group of men in Bamunigam, Kandhamal District (Orissa). She was held between 5 and 11 July, but the case was made public only today. “The perpetrators must be brought to justice without delay and the law must take its course. What happened is a disgrace,” said Mgr John Barwa SVD, archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar, who condemned the attack.
The nun, a Kandhamal native, lives in Chennai (Tamil Nadu), where she is studying in college. According to her testimony to police, she received a phone call from a woman about two weeks ago, who reported that her mother was very sick.
On 5 July, she took a train to Bamunigam, where two cousins and some friends were waiting to take her home. However, rather than take her to the village of Minapanka, the men led her to a still unidentified place. Here the sister was gang raped for a week.
On 11 July, the attackers left the sister at Berhampur train station, threatening her not to tell anyone about what had happened. The victim managed to reach her village where on 13 July she filed an official complaint.
Pray for this young woman, her order, and her attackers.
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