KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 — The police have set up a special team to investigate the robbery and assault incident involving two elderly nuns at the Church of Visitation at Jalan Yam Tuan, Seremban on Wednesday.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Datuk Seri Bakri Zinin said the case had nothing to do with religious sentiments and was purely a criminal act.

He stressed this to reporters after a visit to the National Heart Institute here today, in conjunction with the 207th Police Anniversary.

In the incident around 6 am, the nuns aged 69 and 79 were at the entrance of the church when they were believed to have been attacked and robbed of a small handbag containing some cash and a mobile phone, by a man wearing a full face helmet.

The victims had serious injuries and were unconscious when found.

Meanwhile, MIC President Datuk Seri G. Palanivel described the attack on the two nuns as a heinous act carried out by cowards.

“The nuns are two old ladies and to beat them until one of them had gone into a coma is an inhuman act.

“I hope the police will find the perpetrators soon and bring them to justice,” he said in a statement here today.

Palanivel advised the public not to overreact or turn the incident into a racial issue.

“The police have classified it as robbery and they are still investigating.

We will leave it in their good hands to handle the issue as best possible.

“I pray for the nuns for a speedy recovery,” he said.

In Seremban, Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, commenting on the incident, said crimes against women more so elderly women cannot be tolerated and must be stopped.

“We cannot compromise on this matter, the culprits must be severely punished. We must send a clear message that in Malaysia, the culture of violent crimes especially against women is totally unacceptable,” she told reporters when met at the compound of the Tuanku Ja’afar Seremban (HTJ) here.

Earlier, Shahrizat, who is also the chairman of the National Welfare Foundation, had spent about an hour visiting the two nuns, Sister Marie Rose @ Theresa Teng, 79, who is comatose and Sister Juliana Lim, 69, who sustained serious head injuries in the incident. — Bernama