Two women were killed and dozens of others were injured on Sunday when a former Jehovah’s Witness was seized for interrogation in connection with the detonation of homemade bombs at a meeting of the group in the southern Indian state of Kerala, authorities said.
The health minister, Veena George, reported that a 53-year-old woman had died from her burn injuries. George said that the status of a 12-year-old girl who had suffered 95% burns remained critical.
Dominic Martin posted a video to Facebook claiming responsibility for the attacks, and then turned himself in to authorities in the Thrissur district shortly after noon, approximately 40 kilometers from the blast sites.
There are still questions being asked of Dominic in Kochi. Police spokesman Pramod Kumar told Reuters, “He is in our custody, but we have not recorded his arrest so far.”
It will take some time before we can verify the accuracy of his assertion. The inquiry is still underway, therefore we cannot confirm his involvement in the crime at this time,” he continued.
The event happened near Kalamassery, about 10 km (6.21 mi) northeast of Kochi city, during a Jehovah’s Witnesses convention.
According to Reuters’ interviews with TA Sreekumar, a regional spokesperson for the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Martin was not a member of the organization. He estimated that 2,300 people throughout the course of the three-day event, but he couldn’t confirm whether or not Martin was there.
At least two explosions occurred at the center, as confirmed by Sreekumar to Reuters.
To put it plainly, I accept full responsibility for this. I was the one who detonated the bomb. “I am making this video to make it clear why I did this,” Martin stated in a nearly six-minute Facebook video that lasted for roughly four hours before it was taken down.
Martin claimed that, some six years ago, he found the doctrines of the Jehovah’s Witnesses to be “antinational” and had attempted to have conversations with members of the church to change their minds.
Shaik Darvesh Saheb, the Director General of Police in Kerala, informed reporters yesterday that preliminary inquiry indicated that an improvised explosive device was utilized.
At least three explosions, according to witnesses quoted by the local newspaper Mathrubhumi.
Police are treating the matter seriously, according to Kerala’s chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan.
The prayer that was held that day ended just as the blasts began. The initial explosion happened smack in the middle of the room. Sreekumar had earlier reported to mathrubhumi.com that “seconds later, two more explosions rocked simultaneously on either side of the hall.”
The Watchtower Society of Jehovah was established in the United States in the 1870s and has since spread over the world. Their door-to-door proselytizing is what has made them famous in many nations.
About sixty thousand Indians are estimated to be part of the group’s fan base.
