St. Bernadette statue at 400 year Immaculate Conception Church vandalized -
Pieces found in gutter
Source : Daijiworld.com
Kundapur, Mar 1: The residents of Gangolli, a village near Kundapur woke
up on Sunday March 1 to the disturbing news that a statue of St Bernadette at
the 400-year-old Church of Immaculate Conception, had been broken by unknown
miscreants.
The statue was installed in the grotto. Its pieces were discovered in a gutter
by some devotees of the church. The incident has marred the usually peaceful and
serene atmosphere on the church precincts.
However, the situation is under control. A police squad accompanied by a sniffer
dog and fingerprint experts inspected the area in search of clues.
Madhukar Pawar, superintendent of police, Udupi district, K N Ramesh, assistant
commissioner, Kundapur, and C K Shashidhar, deputy superintendent, Kundapur
range, visited the spot and assessed the situation. Vicar of Kundapur Varado Fr
Alban D'souza, parish priest of Gangolli Fr Alfonse D'lima, and former MLA
Byndoor Gopal Poojary appealed to the people to maintain law and order and
assured them of bringing the culprits to justice.
Among those present were Jerald Crasta, Helen Rebebro, A J Bothello, Kiran
Crasta, Edward Cardin, Felix Fernandez, Herik Gonsalvies, Michael D'souza, Vinod
Fernandez, Michel Rebero, Kundapur Varado Legal Committee co-ordinator (Alvin
Quardres), planning committee co-ordinator (Valerian Menezes), Catholic Sabha
former president Dr Sony D'costa, Darik Crasta, Johnson Almeida, etc. Fr Anil
Cornelio Trasi, Fr Philip Nere Aranha and Byndoor MLA Laxminarayana, also
visited the spot.
