The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India expressed its deep pain and anguish at the incidents against women in Kathua, Unnao and other places in the country. CBCI highlighted that humanity was thrown out of the window in Kathua and Unnao and replaced by the darkest side of human behavior. Bishops of India emphasized that the repeated targeting of women and children as a tool or agenda for personal, religious or political gain is nothing less than a crime against humanity.
CBCI remarked that “We are not a soulless nation. If we were, then the outpouring of anger as we have seen it across the nation would not have been manifest. Our nation has a soul, a heart and a mind. A soul to respond to these unspeakable crimes committed against women, a heart that reaches out in empathy and solidarity and a mind that does not fall for hate games played by those who wish to pollute the sacred-secular fibre of the nation.” The Bishops added, “It is hard to be unmoved by what has happened in Kathua, how brutally an eight-year child was assaulted, molested and cruelly murdered or in Unnao, or in any part of the nation where women are raped and murdered. What has made the incidents in Kathua and Unnao even more deplorable is the justification by certain sections of society; the very people who should uphold the rule of law have either become the alleged perpetrators or the defenders of the indefensible. There is no justification for rape; none what so ever and every voice of sanity must speak out in one voice against such crimes.”
CBCI assured that they stand firmly with the victims of these and every horrific crime committed in the nation. CBCI condemn strongly these dastardly incidents or elements that have committed or supported such acts which have brought great shame on the nation. CBCI once again reminded that “Ours is a nation that has produced great women leaders, social reformers, politicians and women who walk the corridors of power and yet our women are subjected daily to the most unspeakable crimes. This must stop now and the Catholic Church in India wishes to lend its voice and resolve in speaking up against such barbaric acts of violence against women.”
