by Staff writer
When water started trickling down a statue of Jesus Christ at a Catholic church in India’s largest city, Mumbai, locals were quick to declare it a miracle.
Immediately, some began collecting the holy water to drink, bathe and cook with.
The Church of Our Lady of Velankanni where the statue stood soon turned a destination of a pilgrimage, attracting thousands of Indians from far and wide.
What came next was very shocking!
The water from the statue, it was discovered, had not been tears of the Lord as was assumed by worshipers but had come from a blocked nearby toilet.
“This was sewage water seeping through a wall due to faulty plumbing,” said Sanal Edamaruku, the man who made the discovery.
“It posed a serious health risk to people who were fooled into believing it was a miracle.”
Before his statement was established as true, Edamaruku was accused of blasphemy, charged with offences that carry a three-year prison sentence and eventually, after receiving death threats, had to seek exile in Finland.
During this time, more groups of people (though now fewer than before) still visited the statue to drink the toilet water.
