England-based Shiva temple vandalised by man allegedly reciting Quran verses

In the United Kingdom's Wembley, last week, a Hindu temple became the scene of a potential hate crime, as a man reportedly reciting Quran verses tried to throw a sacred idol and smashed a lamp (diya).

Latest incident

On Saturday (Jan 6th), a black man wearing a hoodie and a face mask entered the Eelapatheeswarar Alayam Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in Wembley, England, with his shoes on, despite being stopped by the devotees and temple volunteers.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

As per Rajasingham Jayadevan, the founder and general secretary of the temple,the man was initially stopped byvolunteers and devotees whoasked him to remove his boots and pull down the hoodie, buthe refused to listen and left the temple premises.

However, he came back and went to the side of the temple where the deities were placed. There, he grabbed a Goddess Laxmi Deity with the intent to throw and smash it, Jayadevan further said.

The volunteers, however, managed to hold the idol and no damage was caused to it.

"One of the devotees and our volunteers managed to restrain him after he became extremely aggressive, and were successfully able to catch the murti (idol) which was thrown," he said, as per an X post by INSIGHT, a community of British Hindus and Indians.

"He then went to Navagraha (nine deities) stand and there were brass diyas (lamp) there. He smashed one of the Navagraha structures and tried to shake one of the Navgrahas," Jayadevan was quoted as saying byTimes Of India.

"During this time, he was reciting Quranic verses," he further claimed.

Man detained

The man was detained by volunteers and theMetropolitan Police were called. The man even tried to assault an officer.

In a statement, the police said "Shortly after 1.30 pm on January 6, police were called to a man who had entered a Hindu temple in Wembley. It was reported that the 22-year-old man was causing a significant disturbance inside the temple. Officers attended, and the man was detained. He was taken to hospital as a precaution due to his elevated heart rate and subsequently arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker and taken into police custody."

However, the man was not booked for vandalism, as "no one present wished to substantiate any related criminal allegation."

(With inputs from agencies)