Vicar General of Patna Archdiocese stabbed by local goon, in grave condition

Patna – The Christian community in Patna are living in fear after a local criminal stabbed the vicar general of Patna archdiocese when the priest confronted him and asked him to give up his criminal activities.

The incident occurred on April 11 when Fr. Mathew Uzhuthal, vicar general of Patna archdiocese and a parish priest of Assumption of Our Lady Church at Mokama, was assaulted and stabbed because the priest opposed the criminal activities of the local goon, said Fr. Gyan Prakash, secretary to Archbishop Benedict John Osta of Patna.

In 1979, an American missionary, Jesuit Fr. Francis Martinsek was murdered in that same parish when unidentified gunmen shot him. Fr. Martinsek, who served as a hospital chaplain, died of his wounds four days after the attack.

Fr. Uzhuthal, stabbed in the neck and chest, had to be rushed to the hospital for medical treatment. According to news reports, he had lost a lot of blood and he cannot move his legs because the stabbing ruptured some nerves in his neck.

Meanwhile, local police are searching for the alleged assailant, a local Catholic youth with the same name as the archbishop's secretary. Fr. Prakash said the suspect has an extensive criminal history, and was recently released on bail after spending four years in jail in a murder case.

Fr. Prakash said the youth, the son of a local catechist, harassed Catholic parishioners and even extorted money from them after his release. The secretary could not comment whether or not the alleged attacker had demanded money from the priest.

“Gyan Prakash was angry because Fr. Uzhuthal did not give in to his extortions,” Fr. Prakash said.

“Gyan Das demanded Rs. 100,000 from Fr. Uzhuthal, who refused to give the amount. There was a scuffle in which the father was stabbed four times in the neck and the chest,” Allen R. Johannes, press secretary for the Archdiocese of Patna, said.

According to news reports, a fellow priest, Fr. Thomas Cheruvally, saw Gyan Das coming out of Fr. Uzhuthal’s room with a bloodied knife in his hands. Fr. Mathew was then found lying in a pool of blood and was rushed to the nearby Nazareth hospital.
Fr. Uzhuthal has also given a statement to police naming Das as his assailant.

Fr. Devasia Chirayl, secretary to the Bishop of Patna, shared that Das was a known criminal. Local sources confirmed that Das was convicted of an armed robbery about five years ago and sentenced to jail for four years. Since his release, Das had occasionally lived with his parents in a rented house in Mokama and otherwise in “unknown shelters.”

Das was born into a Catholic family and had connections with the Catholic Church, although it is unclear how committed he was to the Catholic faith.

Fr. Mathew had counseled Das several times since his release from prison, “trying to settle him in a normal life through advice,” Father Chirayl explained. “But Das was not happy with just the advice, and for the past few weeks, he had started asking for money.”

“On Monday evening, things got out of control when Das pounced on Fr. Mathew for not paying up,” he said.

“This kind of crime has been going on in Mokama for some time,” Fr. Chirayl added. “Ruffians demand money as ransom from people, and if they don’t give, they are killed.”

He also said the state government had taken prompt action in this case, asking district officers to find Das and arrest him.

Bihar is notorious for lawlessness, as organized gangs often resort to kidnapping, extortion and murder. The state is one of the poorest in India.