Mob stones crowd at Catholic school opening

GHOSALI VILLAGE, Maharashtra state, India — A 50-strong Hindu mob attacked a new Catholic school and boarding hostel as the facility was inaugurated Jan. 29 in Maharashtra state. The mob threw stones into the crowd, broke chairs and beat participants with sticks. Hindu extremists had asked the police three days before the opening ceremony not to allow the school to operate in Ghosali village.

Despite this intimation of possible violence, police did not inform staff at the school and offered no protection for the event. The mob accused Catholic school staff of trying to convert their children by offering them education and chanted, “Leave! We don’t want Christians here!”