Three seriously hurt after Catholic family attacked in Dhaka home

Home invasion linked to recent spate of sectarian violence, Christians say.

Dhaka:  Three members of a Catholic family in Dhaka were seriously injured after being attacked in their home by three men armed with guns and knives on Dec. 10.

The attackers stabbed and shot brothers Ranjan Lawrence D'Cruze, 47 and Rajesh Alexander D'Cruze, 37 at their home in Dhaka's Mohakhali district. Their sister Bipasha D'Cruze, 43, was also stabbed.

Both brothers were reported to be in critical condition at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Dec.11.

Police suspect robbery was the motive behind the attack.

"We suspect it was a robbery case, because we found a television was unplugged. The robbers might have attacked the family members after they woke up and tried to scream for help," said Biplob Kumar Sarkar, a deputy police commissioner.

However, other family members, as well as Christian leaders claim the attack were sectarian and pointed to recent attacks on religious minorities across Bangladesh.

Christians, the majority of them Catholic, are a small minority in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, accounting for 0.03 percent of the population.

The community has been the victim of several attacks and threats in the last few months.

A Protestant pastor narrowly escaped death after alleged Islamic militsnts tried to slit his throat in Pabna district on Oct. 5, while an Italian Catholic priest also survived a murder attempt when gunmen shot him in northern Dinajpur district on Nov. 18.

Alleged extremists have also issued death threats to more than a dozen Catholic priests, Protestant pastors and Christian aid workers over the past weeks.

"If they were robbers, they could have left with valuables. They attacked with knives and guns and they came to kill," said Jessy D'Costa, 32, Rajesh's wife.

"We have no enemies and we don't see any reason why they wanted to kill us," she added.

Father Albert Thomas Rozario, parish priest of Holy Rosary Church in Tejgaon, the largest Catholic parish in the country, also dismissed robbery as a motive.

"The attackers came to kill people. We guess their intention was to terrorize the Christian community," said Father Rozario, who is also convener of the Justice and Peace Commission in Dhaka Archdiocese.

"We have already talked to the Home Minister about the incident and he has assured us he will look into the matter."

A culture of impunity seems to be growing with regard to attacks on minorities in this country which is why they are recurring, Nirmol Rozario, secretary of the Bangladesh Christian Association said.

"This seems like a preplanned attack as the assailants used guns and machetes. Recent attacks on Christians have remained unpunished, which might be emboldening extremists," he said.

Source: UCAN