Pastor summons prayer warriors after rape of churchwomen
Published:Wednesday | February 17, 2021 | 5:04 AMRasbert Turner/Gleaner Writer
A female pastor has expressed outrage at the sexual assault of two churchwomen in the full view of their mother and called for the Christian community to mount a prayerful war against criminals.
Pastor Marlene Martin of the Faith Community Churches of Jamaica in St Catherine said that Christians could repel evil by committing to more prayer and fasting.
“I cannot think of how the mother must feel at this time, to see the brutal attack against her children,” Martin told The Gleaner, characterising the attack as “wicked”.
“I know that people will be saying how come God let it happen, but ... prayer must be our guidance.”
The pastor lamented that there was growing ambivalence towards the sanctity of the Church.
“I just hope that they don’t lose faith and don’t take revenge as the way forward,” Martin said of the victims.
The St Catherine North police have launched a manhunt for the men, who attacked the women as they returned from a church service.
Police reports indicate that about 9 p.m. on February 9, the women were walking home from a church service when three men alighted from a vehicle.
The women were ordered inside the vehicle by the men, one of whom was armed with a handgun.
The abducted women were driven on to Walks Road about one mile away and dragged into bushes in the vicinity of G.C. Foster College.
The two daughters were raped.
They were also robbed of money.
After the ordeal, a report was made to the Spanish Town Police Station and a probe launched.
There have been several recent reported incidents of abductions across Jamaica by men driving under the guise of taxi operators.