News Digest

'Heinous': Nun, 72, critical after gang-rape in Indian school attack

A 72-year-old nun has been gang-raped by bandits at a Christian missionary school in eastern India. Up to a dozen attackers broke in at around 1 a.m. on Saturday before tying up several of the nuns on the premises. The senior sister was raped as she tried to stop the men from stealing from the Convent of Jesus and Mary School, in Ranaghat, West Bengal. It is understood the nun was not taken to hospital until the following morning. The woman is said to have been critically injured and has had surgery after the attack.

After tying three of the five sisters, they entered the principal’s room and ransacked it, destroying property and taking money, a laptop and a mobile phone.

Father Dominic Gomes, Vicar General of Kolkata (Calcutta) Archdiocese, speaking to Indian news channel NDTV

Angry school students blocked a rail route and a major highway in protest after the incident. West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said an inquiry had been launched by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Banerjee said, “We strongly condemn the incident that took place at the Ranaghat Convent. CID will be examining all aspects to this horrific crime. Swift, strongest action to be taken.” State minister for urban affairs Firhad Hakim described the attack as “heinous” and called for the death penalty to be used on anyone found responsible, the Times of India reported.