Church with thatched roof burnt

By Our Staff Reporter

WARANGAL, DEC. 23. In a shocking Christmas-eve incident, a small church with a thatched roof was burnt allegedly by unidentified miscreants on the outskirts of Aravapalli village of Hasanparthy mandal, 10 km. from here, on Friday night.

While the police do not rule out short-circuit in electric supply as the cause of fire, the church pastor, Rev. Barla Prabhakar, has lodged a police complaint quoting two women who were on way to the church around 7.30 pm as seeing two youths setting fire to the premises and escaping on a scooter. The Circle Inspector of Police of Hasanparthy, Mr. Md. Liaqat Ali Khan, however, said the police were exploring the possibility of short-circuit because electricity for the church was tapped directly from overhead low- tension wires.

The Holy Bible, a banner, some mats, a table and tubelights were among the articles reduced to ashes as the entire roof came down in the fire. The four walls of Manna Full Gospel Church, as it is called, were intact.

This is the second time that the church has been burnt. It was burnt in July last year by unidentified persons within six months of buying the land for the construction of the premises. The police said they did not get any clue into the fire at the church last time.

The church's walls which were raised only a month ago had a roof spread out with the dried canopy of date trees and thatch which was inflammable material. The door of the church at the entrance is yet to be fixed. The religious place was said to have been constructed at a cost of Rs. 8,000 with donations from poor families of weaker sections living in Sidhapuram, Aravapalli and Buchaiahpalli villages.

The church has been functioning for the last two years in a completely thatched hut prior to the construction. It has come up amidst agricultural fields on either side of a blacktopped road between Sidhapuram and Aravapalli villages. A six gunta land was purchased from a toddy tapper for the construction of the church. The houses of the church members are in habitations which are cut away from the spot.

One of the two women whom Rev. Prabhakar has quoted in his police complaint, Thagarram Pushpa, told The Hindu that she saw one youth already seated on the scooter as he kept producing a jarring sound by raising the accelerator of the two-wheeler while another person was running towards him after setting the church aflame. Both of them escaped in the darkness immediately. The road is a few metres from the church.

Mrs. Pushpa said she and her sister-in-law ran away seeing the fire. She also said they were the first to be proceeding to the church for the evening prayers after a day-long fast which some of the worshippers observed every Friday.

Another youth, Mr. Isaac, said none of the members could be present at the church at that time because they were all waiting at Sidhapuram for the pastor to lead the carols on the eve of Christmas. The carols at Sidhapuram was planned around 8 p.m. and an announcement was also made in this regard in the village over loudspeakers, but the pastor was away at that time on the same programme at Chintagattu village, 12 km away. As soon as they heard about the fire in the church, they rushed to the church.

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