Castres : Dozens of Christian Tombs Vandalized
The Saint-Roch cemetery in Castres (Tarn) was vandalized on 15th April, 2015. Dozens of tombs were ransacked, funerary objects systematically thrown to the ground.
There are different estimates on how many graves have suffered. The mayor of the sub-prefecture, Pascal Bugis evaluated that the number of tombs affected was between 250 and 300. No tombs were opened; mainly religious symbols were damaged. On its other sections, where the Jewish and military tombs are located there was no aggression shown.
Bugis said these degradations were "intolerable by their magnitude, but also because they have attacked the symbols of the Christian religion." For the mayor of Castres, there was in this act a "bias against Christian symbolism."
One person was first placed in custody, then hospitalized as a result of the investigation.
On 16th April Le Parisien reported that the Deputy Prosecutor Charlotte Beluet has said "that nothing was known yet about why he had committed the act and there was no religious pretext." However, the man was lately diagnosed as mentally unbalanced and was immediately given hospitalization treatment.
"The man repeated Muslim prayers over and over, drooling, and was not communicative: his condition was declared to be not suitable for custody because of psychiatric problems," explained Charlotte Beluet.
The French President Francois Hollande also made a statement condemning the unprecedented act vandalism, saying they were "unworthy acts" that "undermine values of our Republic."
Sources: LeParisien, France3, 20minutes, Getty Images, Actu.Orange