The rape has added to the sense of fear and dismay among the country’s Christian minority, which has been deeply upset by a spate of attacks on churches, with Modi recently promising to crack down on religious violence. “Even if you call it an isolated incident, the background and the atmosphere for such an attack had already been there, so you cannot simply ignore it as a one-off incident,” Father Savarimuthu Sankar, a spokesman for the Delhi diocese, told AFP.

This closed circuit television image captured at the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Ranaghat show three of the Muslims in the church attack.

Bangladeshi man is found guilty of raping an elderly nun while robbers ransacked a convent and smashed a statue of Jesus in India

A court in Kolkata found Nazrul Islam guilty of rape and attempted murder

The 72-year-old nun needed surgery after the brutal attack back in 2015

She was living in a convent school in the eastern state of West Bengal at the time

‘It was a shameful act,’ additional judge Kumkum Singha told the packed court

By Gareth Davies For Mailonline, 7 November 2017:

An Indian court today found a Bangladeshi guilty of raping an elderly nun in a crime that sparked an outpouring of anger at persistent high levels of sexual assault in the country.

The 72-year-old nun needed surgery after the brutal attack in 2015, when a gang of robbers broke into the convent school where she lived in the eastern state of West Bengal.

A court in the state capital Kolkata found Nazrul Islam guilty of rape and attempted murder, among other offences.

Nuns arrive at a courthouse ahead of a final judgment in a rape and robbery case in Calcutta, eastern India today

‘It was a shameful act,’ additional judge Kumkum Singha told the packed City Sessions Court.

Singha said Islam acted alone in raping the nun, adding that five others arrested for their involvement were charged with offences unrelated to the sexual assault.

Rapist Islam will be sentenced Wednesday.

The nun, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was attacked after the robbers ransacked the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Ranaghat and stole cash and other items.

Arnab Ghosh, a police superintendent, said the men, aged between 20 and 30, scaled the boundary wall around 11.40pm on Friday, March 13.

They entered the school and disconnected the telephone lines, he added.

The robbers then tied up and gagged a security guard before entering the nuns’ room, where they found the women sleeping.

When the victim, who is the oldest nun at the school, tried to stop them taking another woman into a separate room they raped her.

State police officers stand guard in front of the convent school where an elderly nun was raped

The men escaped with some cash, a mobile phone, a laptop and a camera.

They also ransacked the school’s chapel and took holy items. CCTV showed books and papers strewn across the floor as the men left the staff room.

Mr Ghosh added: ‘At least two of them were armed and the rest were carrying burglary tools. In the chapel, a holy scripture was found torn and a bust of Jesus was broken.’

The nun was taken to hospital in Ranaghat around 7am on Saturday 14, where she needed an operation.

After the attack furious residents took to the streets, demanding action and blocking off the main highway.

Hundreds of students from the school carried banners with the slogan ‘we want justice’.

Police officers stand guard at a courthouse ahead of a final judgment in a rape and robbery case in Calcutta, eastern India today

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Police officers stand guard at a courthouse ahead of a final judgment in a rape and robbery case in Calcutta, eastern India today

A holy scripture was also torn and a statue of Jesus was broken.

The assault was the latest in a string of high-profile rapes in India, and prompted much soul-searching as priests and schoolgirls took to the streets demanding justice for the ‘inhumane’ crime.

Supporters closed shops, shuttered schools and held candlelit vigils outside the hospital where the nun underwent surgery for injuries suffered during the attack.

The police came under fire for perceived inaction after 10 men were detained but no arrests made, despite the faces of some attackers being captured on CCTV footage.

It took three months before the main accused was arrested.

The assault was the latest in a string of high-profile rapes in India, and prompted much soul-searching as priests and schoolgirls took to the streets demanding justice for the ‘inhumane’ crime.