Two women held for damaging Ganesha idols in Surat

Surat: Athwa Police in the city arrested two women on Tuesday for hurting religious sentiments after they, along with their children, caused damage to Lord Ganesha idols 20 days ago.

The women, identified as Laila Sheikh and Rubina Pathan, accompanied by their two children, entered a shop selling Ganesha idols on August 17 and damaged around 10 idols, valued at Rs 60,000.

Initially, police did not file an FIR. However, after a riot broke out on Sunday over stone-pelting on a Ganesha idol at a pandal in Sayedpura, an FIR was lodged on Monday, leading to the arrest of the two women on Tuesday.

According to the FIR, Rahul Khalasi and his brother Vishal were selling Ganesha idols at two locations in Gopipura. Rahul operated from Simandhar Complex, while Vishal had a shop at Shweta Apartments. On August 17, while Vishal was visiting Rahul’s shop with a customer, he received a report that four individuals were damaging idols at his own shop. Upon rushing back, Rahul and Vishal allegedly found two children damaging the idols under the supervision of their mothers. DeshGujarat