Malaysian Hindu Sangam : All places of worship are sacred

MALACCA: The Malaysian Hindu Sanggam has expressed its unhappiness over the incident involving a group of devotees at a Hindu temple here where they were relieved of RM75,000 in valuables when robbers with machetes barged into the temple in Air Keroh.
"All places of worship are sacred, be they mosques, churches or temples. Attacking a place of worship and people who are praying will hurt the sentiments of everyone," its president, Datuk R.S. Mohan Shan (pix), told theSun.
"If I am not mistaken, according to the police, the suspects are all locals and we are sad why such incidents have to take place in a place of worship," he said.
Mohan Shan wants tighter security enforced around the temple.
"The temple committee should prioritise the security of the devotees and set up closed-circuit television cameras and also consider hiring a security guard to man the area," he added.
He further pointed out that the organisation is sad about what has happened to the devotees but looking at the losses, the devotees should have been more cautious of wearing expensive jewelry during prayers.
On Dec 13, six robbers wearing full-face helmets and each armed with 2ft-long parang arrived on three motorcycles and robbed the devotees when the priest of the Karadi Malai Sri Durgai Amman Alayam temple here was conducting evening prayers before the devotees comprising two men and the rest women and children.
The robbers threatened the devotees with their weapons and ordered them to hand over their jewelry, handbags and wallets.
The terrified devotees did as ordered and within minutes the crooks fled the scene with the loot from the devotees, aged between 11 and 46.
theSun reported that Malacca police CID chief ACP Kamaluddin Kassim said this is the first time such a case involving a place of worship has occurred in Malacca and police are seeking the help of witnesses in identifying the criminals as there was no CCTV at the temple.