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Jesus 'bleeds' in Calcutta

A Christian in Calcutta says he found an 18-inch crucifix of Jesus Christ 'bleeding'.

Ajanta Chatterjee, who lives in Amherst street, was on Thursday morning cleaning the crucifix when he found 'blood marks' at the points where Christ was nailed to the cross.

An alarmed Chatterjee showed the phenomenon to his family. Word spread and soon people started arriving to see the 'bleeding' Christ. Chatterjee said he tried to keep the news from spreading, but by Friday morning it spread far and wide and people began thronging the compound -- so much so that police personnel had to be deployed to control them.

The Chatterjees, who are among the 80-odd Christian families in the area, said the crucifix was bought from Bandel church 15 years ago.

Meanwhile, a close look at the crucifix reveals that the 'blood' is in the form of red clots, which could very well have been painted on. Joint Commissioner of Police Gautam Chakraborty also seems to be of this opinion.

"How come the so-called wounds start bleeding one moment and dry up the next? Blood coagulation? What utter nonsense!" the cop scoffs.

But Christians of the area are not ready to buy Chakraborty's 'nonsense' theory. "This is Christ's way of telling the world that it has sinned enough," they maintain religiously.

Meanwhile, the Sinhas, Chatterjee's neighbours, claim that they too discovered blood on Christ...