Elderly Nun In India Tried To Prevent A Robbery And Was Gang Raped

An elderly nun from West Bengal, India, was brutally gang raped after she tried to stop a group of six men from robbing her convent.

Early Saturday morning, six men entered the Convent of Jesus and Mary School in Ranaghat, India. According to NPR, the men overpowered the guard and found the nun, whose reported age is between 70- and 74-years-old. Once the men reached the nun, she was brutalized and gang raped by all six men. The men then escaped with money, a laptop, and a cell phone.

Several classrooms and the principal’s office were totally ransacked before the men actually entered the convent.

The nun is recovering in the hospital, but police are still searching for the six men they suspect are responsible for the horrific crime.

The Archbishop of Calcutta, Thomas d’Souza, tells the media that cameras inside the Convent of Jesus and Mary school show the faces of the six men who raped the nun. In a statement to the press about the rape, d’Souza said the following.

“Christians in Bengal are deeply anguished by the shameful act of violence on an elderly and ailing religious sister at Ranaghat. We would like to register our horror and shock at this barbaric act which has occurred in our tolerant and inclusive state of West Bengal.”

Since the attacks, there have been several protests held in India’s capital, Delhi. BBC News reports that the Christian groups are completely outraged at the rape and are accusing the government of failing to protect them. Parents and student from the school were so angry that they decided to block roads and trains as a sign of protest.

India has a long history of sexual violence against women. One of the most recent and well-publicized attacks occurred in December of 2012, when a 23-year-old student riding a public bus was gang raped. The young woman was traveling with a male companion who was severely beaten with an iron rod. It was the same iron rod that was used to penetrate the woman so brutally that her intestines had to be surgically removed, 13 days before she ultimately died from the injuries sustained during the rape.

The case caused further outrage when one of the attackers actually blamed the victim for being so badly injured during the rape.

The Inquisitr previously reported that the attacker was quoted as saying, “When being raped, she shouldn’t fight back. She should just be silent and allow the rape. Then they’d have dropped her off after ‘doing her’ and only hit the boy.”

After the woman’s death, a massive protest was held by mostly young people who were demanding swift and strict punishment for the men involved. As a result of that incident, the government of India has promised speedy trials and resolutions in all cases of sexual assault and violence.

Unfortunately, the promise of speedy trials and strict punishment did not deter the six men who entered the convent Saturday morning and raped the elderly nun.