8.12.14

Somewhere in Delhi....


A mysterious, early morning fire destroyed one of east Delhi's big churches, St Sebastian's Church in Dilshad Garden, prompting allegations of foul play by the Christian community . Police have registered an FIR against unknown persons under section 436 (mischief by fire with intent to destroy house) of IPC.
The blaze started in the early hours of Monday and reduced to ashes the church's interior, including the altar, and all images and statues. Several churchgoers stood outside the charred 13 year-old shrine the entire afternoon, protesting against what they believed was a planned arson. Delhi archbishop Anil Couto has in a memorandum to PM Narendra Modi and home minister Rajnath Singh demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident. Couto also alleged that police took a long time to react and were late in sending officers and forensic units to collect evidence. Archbishop Couto, in his memorandum, demanded that the government must repair the building before Christmas, ensure that policemen guilty of dereliction of duty are punished and that special police investigation teams are set up to trace the guilty .
The fire department said they received a call at 7.26 am. Four fire tenders took less than five minutes to reach the spot, officials said. “We found the whole place burning furiously .It took us 40 minutes to control the blaze,“ said a senior Delhi Fire Services (DFS) official.
Police officials aren't ruling out a planned assault. “ All angles are being probed. The statements of various people have been recorded and evidence is being examined. The crime and forensic teams have inspected the site and lifted samples, including fingerprints and others,“ a senior officer said.
The first to arrive on the scene, apart from a permanent chowkidar, was the parish priest, Father Antony Francis. “It was around 6.30 am. Within 10 minutes of receiving a call from the chowkidar, who suddenly saw flames coming out of church windows, Father Francis reached the spot. He called others and everyone got busy trying save the church,“ said Father Stanley , another priest.
He added that there was an overwhelming stench of kerosene in the entire church when he reached it. “Traces of it could be seen floating on water with which fire tenders had flushed our church. Undoubtedly this was planned vandalism,“ said Father Stanley .Visitors on Sunday didn't recall observing anything strange. “While Sunday prayers are important, yesterday was especially important for me as children were receiving their first holy communion and my daughter was among them. We left the church around 11 pm and there was nothing amiss,“ said Anthony Joseph. He said around 600 people attend the Sunday mass.
The church is surrounded by religious sites. On one side lies Varadha Ganesh Mandir, in front of which is a crematorium, and on its other end is an Orthodox Syrian church. Local Christians, of whom there are about 1,500 families, say they have always lived peacefully in the area. However, they recall one instance of vandalism against the same church. “In 2010, it was stoned by some people.We still don't know why ,“ said Roby Matthews, a regular at St Sebastian's.

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