Based on a report from the media, thieves broke into a Hindu temple in the state of Texas in the United States and took several items from the building. This has left the local Indian community in a state of shock.
As stated in a story that aired on Friday on KBTX-TV, the incident took place on January 11 at the Shri Omkarnath Temple in the Brazos Valley of Texas.
“There was a sense of invasion, that sense of loss of privacy when something like this happened to us,” said Srinivasa Sunkari, a Board member for the Brazos Valley Shri Omkarnath Temple. “There was a sense of invasion, that sense of loss of privacy, when something like this happened to us.”
It is the sole Hindu temple in the Brazos Valley, and it serves as a place of prayer for local Hindus as well as a place where they can find community and tranquility.
“There was an unlawful entry. They entered through the side window, and the first things that we noticed were taken were the safe and the donation box that we put our valuables in,” Sunkari added.
The priest and his family, who reside in an apartment just behind the temple, are not in danger, according to what the man claimed.
A visitor is shown on film that was taken by surveillance cameras inside the temple, walking straight to the donation box without paying any attention to the shrine. The suspect then wheeled the object out of the temple using the cart that was provided for him by the temple.
Sunkari claims that they informed the residents of the community during a gathering on Sunday and shared the feelings of the leaders regarding the need for more safety. However, he claims that the organization is not going to allow this tragedy to deter them from fulfilling their goal.
“We will recover, and we will take further safety measures to ensure the well-being of our priest, this family, and our place of worship,” she said. “We will rebound, and we sincerely hope that nothing even remotely similar to this ever occurs to anyone in the future,” Sunkari said.
The Brazos County Sheriff’s Office said that an investigation into the burglary is currently underway.