Agencies/Kolkata

The West Bengal government said yesterday the investigation into the rape of an elderly nun would be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation, after local police failed to make arrests.
West Bengal police had detained 10 people for questioning, but were still searching for the gang of eight robbers who broke into the Jesus and Mary Convent early Friday morning, assaulted the nun and fled with cash and valuables.
Police released photos of four men obtained from CCTV footage and announced a reward of Rs100,000 for information.
“Considering the seriousness and sensitivity of the case, I have decided to entrust investigation of the case to CBI,” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote on Twitter.
Her announcement came as Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, who heads the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, visited the nun at a hospital in the town of Ranaghat, where the crime took place.
Cleemis voiced frustration at the lack of progress in the investigation.
“I would like to request the authorities to ensure justice is done,” said Cleemis.
“The sisters have forgiven but justice (should) be made visible and such acts should not happen again,” he told reporters Ranaghat.
“I understand that the process has begun... but I’d like to request the chief minister to adopt a faster approach and ensure justice is meted out at the earliest.”
He also thanked the public in Ranaghat and “the public of the entire country who are showing their sympathy and their sentiments of togetherness at this point of time.”
Although police have launched a gang-rape inquiry, officers say only one person sexually assaulted the nun, who needed surgery after the attack but is expected to be shortly released from hospital.
Protests were held in West Bengal and also in the capital New Delhi on Tuesday. Banerjee was confronted by hundreds of protesters late Monday when she visited the victim.
Deputy police superintendent Ajoy Prasad said yesterday the nun had recorded her statement, and also confirmed that a hunt for multiple offenders was still under way.
“According to our preliminary investigation there were about eight people who broke into the convent,” he said.
Derek O’Brien, an MP and one of Banerjee’s senior lieutenants, said everything possible was being done to arrest the perpetrators.
“We are in close touch with the nuns, all the church authorities and a CID probe was ordered five days back,” he told NDTV. “We are doing all it takes to arrest those people.”
The incident adds to a grim record of sexual assaults in India, which this month banned a documentary about a December 2012 gang-rape that sparked domestic and international outrage.
It is also the latest in a string of attacks on churches or Catholic schools, and came despite a pledge by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure the safety of religious minorities.
A senior minister from Banerjee’s regional Trinamool Congress Party alleged the incident was connected to rising religious fanaticism in the country.