Dundee Hindu Temple worshippers outraged after statues are stolen, recovered

A run of five burglaries at the Dundee Temple Hall culminated with the theft of seven religious statues on Wednesday which, thanks to the swift intervention of the public and the SAPS, were recovered and two teenagers arrested.

Krish Kallie and Geetha Dookie of the Hindu Temple Society said worshippers had been left devastated upon hearing of the break-in.

“The statues, six of which are solid copper and one brass, date back to over 100 years when the Temple was founded. The constant burglaries at the complex have made us feel very uncomfortable but this theft of these statues is an effrontery,” said Kallie.

A broken window frame was tossed next to the statues that were not removed from the temple.

Photos of the stolen statues were posted on social media and minutes later, scrapyard owners contacted Temple officials to inform them that two young men had arrived with four of the statues wrapped in blankets.

“They obviously wanted to sell the statues for the copper. Thank goodness the scrapyard owners acted so quickly. The SAPS were called in and we identified the statues and the youngsters were taken in for questioning.”

The suspects led police to a home in Craigieburn where one statue was found while another two were found, wrapped in a curtain torn down from a shrine in the Temple, left in a bush on the premises.

“They probably could only carry four of the statues to the scrapyard as these are very heavy. Their intention was to come back for the other two,” Dookie said.

Disturbingly, for worshippers, the burglars must have cut themselves after breaking a window to gain access as blood was found inside the Temple.

“Our Gita Week prayers should have already started but we had to delay these as the Temple needs to be sanitised, the statues scrubbed and the Guru will have to perform a cleansing prayer,” Dookie explained.

“In December last year, all the copper pipes and taps at the dining hall were taken. The caretaker’s cottage were also hit and all the pipes taken. Then in January, there was a break in and the statues moved out of the shrine and the garlands removed and the jewellery stolen. The money box was also taken,” Dookie told the Courier.

In February, copper pipe thieves stole the copper pipes and taps from the main hall.

Last Sunday, the dining hall was hit again and this time the brass fittings taken,

“They also removed a spear from the Mother’s Temple and broke the bow out of the hand of the figure on the five meter high Durga statue. It appears that the thieves thought the bow was made of gold but it is cast out of plaster of Paris and merely spray painted gold. When they realised this, they just tossed it aside, showing no respect for a place of worship.”

Kallie said the Temple house, on the corner of McKenzie and Oldacre Streets, which is currently unoccupied, has also been constantly targeted by copper thieves.

“Even the electrical cabling has been hacked out. No one wants to live there because they fear being targeted.”

Police are still investigating the theft of the statues and the possibility of further arrests has not been ruled out.

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