Chennai: Two unidentified men broke the glass pane of Holy Trinity Church and defaced the statue of St. Sebastian in Ramanathapuram of Coimbatore district on Sunday late night. The police registered a complaint in the case on Monday and decided to comb the CCTV footage to identify the accused.
According to a report on The Hindu, two miscreants entered the church on a two-wheeler and one of them started to scale the gate. Later, he broke the glass pane of the shrine and vandalized the statue at around 10 pm on Sunday. They also defaced the statue of St. Sebastian in the church.
When the security guards reached the place and started to chase them, they fled the place in their vehicle. However, the security personnel informed Ramanathapuram police.
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The police registered a case based on the complaint of Fr. Bastin Joseph, assistant vicar of the church.
A complaint has been registered under sections including Section 295 (Destruction, damage or defilement of religious place of worship or an object held sacred, with intent to insult the religion of a class of persons) and 448 (Punishment to trespassing) under the Indian Penal Code, said a report on The News Minute.
The police have decided to look out for the two members by collecting the visuals of the surveillance camera.
The incident took place in a busy area but there were no people around on Sunday due to the lockdown.
The Holy Trinity Church functions under the Ramanathapuram eparchy of the Syro Malabar church in Kerala.
The incident follows after the BJP and right-wing outfits staged a protest against alleged religious conversions in Christian schools.