Videos of a saffron mob chanting 'Jai Shree Ram', pelting stones at statue of Mother Teresa placed in front of the gate and breaking windows of the school, have gone viral.
A group of people trespassed into the school, chanted 'Jai Shri Ram', and forcibly applied 'tilak' on the school correspondent. (Screengrab)
Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly VD Satheesan on Thursday, 18 April, spoke with Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy regarding the incident of vandalism at a school managed by a Kerala-based church in Mancherial district of the state.
The ‘protection council’ of the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese of the Syro Mylabar Church had issued a statement on Wednesday, 17 April, condemning the incident at the church-managed Blessed Mother Teresa High School located in Kannepalli village, about 280 km from state capital Hyderabad.
In a statement, Satheesan said Reddy informed him that the police have already been directed to take strict action against those involved in the vandalism that took place on 16 April.
Satheesan said that a gang of Hindu right-wing attackers targeted the Mother Teresa School.
Videos of a group of persons wearing saffron clothes and chanting ‘Jai Shree Ram’, pelting stones at the statue of Mother Teresa placed in front of the gate and breaking windows of the school, have gone viral.
Referring to the footage of the violence widely circulated in the media and on social media, Satheesan said he spoke to the Telangana chief minister about the matter.
The issue started on Monday, 15 April, when a student of the school, who was in Hanuman Deeksha, was reportedly asked to wear a school uniform in order to sit for an exam.
The issue escalated on Tuesday, 16 April, when a group of people trespassed into the school after the school management did not respond to the child’s father.
The saffron-clad mob chanted “Jai Shri Ram” and forcibly applied “Tilak” on the school correspondent.
On Tuesday, following the violence, both sides — Gorre Thirupathi, the father of the child, and the school management — filed cases with an hour’s gap.
According to FIR accessed by South First, Jaimon Joseph, the correspondent of the school, identified the accused as Konda Naresh, Lakavath Sai, Kanaganti Kranthi Kumar, and Akkala Varshith, along with some others.
The FIR read: “The accused trespassed into the school and have made preparations for wrongfully restraining him while beating (him) with hands and damaged windows of classrooms, Mother Teresa statue and gates.”
The school management also accused the mob of property damage worth ₹30,000.
Jaimon Joseph further stated in the FIR that the accused alleged that the school was “unnecessarily harassing the students and also threatened how can I run the school”.
The police registered a case under IPC Sections 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) 427 (Mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees), 452 (House trespass having prepared to cause hurt, assault), 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation), and 143 read with Section 149.
Jaimon Joseph was not available to comment when approached by South First.
Based on the complaint filed by the child’s father on the same day, 16 April, a case under Sections 153 (A) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion or race) and 295 (A) (insulting the religious feelings) of the IPC was registered against the school officials.
(With PTI inputs)
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