Christian school attacked, principal injured: Gujarat

Suspected Hindu extremists this week attacked a Christian school in Gujarat and mauled the Principal and staff.

The incident on July 6 at St. Stephen's High School in Dahod was triggered after some girl students were chided for excessively applying henna (mehendi) on their hands.

At the prayer meeting before classes, the school authorities who found the "plenty of henna" to have violated the rules of the institution, asked the students to wash them off.

Following this, a group of communal elements stormed into the institution and attacked the Principal and staff members. They also vandalised the building and desecrated the statues.

The Principal, according to a source, has received injuries on the head and abdomen. A complaint has been filed and Dahod police have begun a hunt on the intruders.

Father Cedric Prakash, a human rights activist and a Jesuit priest based in the city of Ahmedabad, suspects a communal hand in the attack. He noted that the attack occurred just minutes after the chiding, suggesting a planned move.