MAN VANDALISES CHURCH ON CHRISTMAS EVE

MAKHEWU – A majority of people go to church to worship, but a man of Tigodzini, near Maphungwane, had a different mission altogether on Chrismas Eve.

Just before midnight on Monday, the man broke into the Good Shepherd Catholic Mission Church and vandalised the sanctuary, where the altar and cross of Jesus Christ are located. The suspect was arrested, while the property destroyed was estimated to be worth over E30 000. In the still of the night, security officers were drawn by a light in the church, where they had initially presumed that a congregant could be praying. They were baffled to find the young man, estimated to be aged 26, vandalising church property.

Priest

In an interview, the church priest said after noticing that something was amiss, the security officers then raised the alarm to the residents residing within the mission. According to the Parish Priest, Father NcamisoVilakati, the incident happened between midnight and 1am, while security officers conducted routine patrols. They noticed that the lights had been switched on inside the church. Vilakati said the security officers managed to calm down the man and tied him with ropes, before calling the Siteki police. The man of the cloth shared that the man could not give a clear answer on what prompted him to cause the damage to the church’s property. He said it was suspected that he was in a questionable state of sobriety, while others on the scene questioned his mental stability. He said police arrived promptly and recorded a statement and further took the suspect into custody.

Adding, Vilakati shared that a door, sacred heart statue, altar table, window panes, flower pots, furniture and chairs were among the things that were vandalised. He said when the man was interrogated by the security officers, he shared that he was from Maphungwane, at an area called Tigodzini. “When we responded to the alarm raised by the security, we found the man having been tied with a rope and he could not give a clear answer when asked who sent him to cause the damage. We suspect that he was not in a good state of mind when committing the crime and police recorded a statement and then took him away,” he said. The man of the cloth further mentioned that elders of the church and senior management of the health facility and mission had been informed about the incident.

He also could not rule out reinforcing security at the church, to ensure safety of the church property and buildings. “It is unfortunate that important items that are sacred to the church were destroyed by the man, without any valid reason. We hope the police will take him for evaluation of his state of mind, so that they can determine if he was sane,” Vilakati said. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Senior Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed that a man had been arrested in connection with the vandalism at the church property. Depending on the investigation by the police, the man is expected to appear at the Siteki Magistrates Court today, to face charges of housebreaking and malicious damage to property.
Meanwhile, last year, over E700 000 worth of sound systems were stolen from different churches across the country.

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