For Mgr Cornelio, “society as a whole is experiencing a trauma". The girl was sleeping in the street with her parents. She was abducted by a young man who knew the family. Her body was found with signs of violence in the afternoon. The Church is trying to educate young people to respect women and girls. Spiritual leaders have met to condemn "this crime against humanity".
Bhopal (AsiaNews) – Indian “society as a whole is experiencing a trauma,” said Mgr Leo Cornelio, SVD, archbishop of Bhopal, as a result of the alleged kidnapping, rape and murder of a six-month-old girl, yesterday, in Madhya Pradesh.
The news has hit a country already reeling over the death of eight-year-old Asifa Bano. The PTI press agency has reported that the blood-soaked body of the infant was found in the basement of a building in Rajwada area, in Indore.
"The accused is seen carrying the infant in CCTV images at around 4:45 am. He then took her to the basement of the building, some 50 metres away from where the family was sleeping. Her body was recovered later in the afternoon," said HC Mishra, Deputy Inspector-General of Police.
Bheel, the man accused of the crime. was known to the infant’s family.
The child’s body was discovered in the afternoon with a head wound indicating that she was dropped to the ground. According to the autopsy report, she was raped before she was killed.
The Catholic Church is trying to "raise awareness about girls and women in our schools in rural and semi-urban areas,” Mgr Cornelio told AsiaNews.
“Even in our hostels, we are teaching children and young people to respect girls ... In every platform, in small communities we are teaching and educating people on how to show respect to girls and women."
The Catholic Church is working on educating and informing the community in cooperation with other spiritual leaders – Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Jains – with whom Church leaders have met "on many occasions" to "condemn this crime against humanity."