Hunt on for missionaries’ assailants

Vadodara Deputy Superintendent of Police H N Chaudhary said the testimony of the witnesses in the case confirmed that two of the four accused—Harsingh Rathwa from Badiya and Praveen Rathwa from Kwant, who interrupted the social awareness programme at the village—were in an inebriated state. The two asked the missionaries to stop the social awareness programme.

The two other accused, Kalesh Rathwa and Narsingh Rathwa, belong to Bhumaswada and Badiya, respectively. Chaudhary said, “There were two separate incidents. In the first incident, the social awareness programme of the missionaries was interrupted. In the second one, the missionaries met with an accident while on their way to Kwant after having dinner at the village.” He, however, added that the second incident needed to be probed further.

According to the FIR lodged by Father Monty Joseph, a mob followed him in a Tempo on his way back to Kwant. The attackers, who were allegedly armed with sticks, then started pelting stones at the missionaries. “While a sister with four other girls in the jeep were forcibly pulled out, window panes of Father Daniel’s jeep were broken and his laptop taken away,” said Father Monty.