SEREMBAN, May 15 — The police have ruled out racial and religious motivation behind the assault against two Catholic nuns outside a church here, saying today that the incident was simply a robbery case and not a hate crime as suggested.
Negri Sembilan police chief Datuk Osman Salleh said according to one of the nuns who is still conscious at the hospital, they were attacked by one man who used a helmet to beat them.
“They were beaten with a helmet and their money was taken,” he told reporters at the Negri Sembilan IPK here today.
The policeman said that the bags of the two elderly nuns — Julianna Lim Nyo Nya and Marie-Rose Teng — were snatched from them at 6am at the main entrance of the Church of Visitation.
Lim’s bag only contained RM10 and three pocket bibles, while Teng’s contained “a little” cash and a mobile phone, according to Osman.
“Both victims were in ordinary clothes,” he said.
Lim, 69, is in critical condition while Teng, 79, is conscious. Both were warded at the Seremban General Hospital.
Osman said that according to Teng, their attacker was a thin, five foot seven inch-tall (about 170cm) man, who was wearing a helmet covering his face and wielding another helmet in his hand, which he used to beat the two elderly women.
The policeman also said statistics did not show that the church area at Jalan Yam Tuan was a crime hotspot.
“Based on statistics, it’s not that rampant,” said Osman.
He also confirmed that the closed-circuit television (CCTV) perched right above the main church entrance, where the attack had occurred, was not working.
“There were 13 CCTVs altogether. The one at the main entrance and another at the side were spoilt,” said Osman.
Speculation that the attack was a hate crime swirled as the robbery occurred shortly after a slew of anti-Christian and anti-Chinese remarks by Muslim groups.
Hate speech and hate crime are not specifically mentioned in Malaysian law.
