Men guilty of fire-bombing temple
 Mukham Dogra, Sandip Rooprai and Jasdev Dogra (l-r) |
Three Wiltshire men have been convicted of fire-bombing a temple and a house after being angered by the marriage of a Sikh woman to her Hindu boyfriend.
Sandip Rooprai, 21, of Penhill Drive, Swindon, acted out of a "misguided sense of honour" following his sister's wedding, Winchester Crown Court heard.
He and brothers Mukham Dogra, 18, and Jasdev Dogra, 19, of Cowdrey Close, Toothill, decided to make petrol bombs.
They then attacked a Bristol temple and the Swindon home of a wedding witness.
The brothers, who were friends of Rooprai, had driven with him to Bristol to attack the Gilbert Road Hindu temple where the marriage had taken place.
'Very good relations'
The Swindon house of the wedding witness, Alpona Begum Rahim, was then attacked by the men on two occasions in February 2008.
All three men had already pleaded guilty to arson after setting fire to a car that was parked outside the Rahim family home.
The jury found the men guilty of two counts of arson with recklessness as to whether life is endangered. However they were cleared of more serious charges of arson with intent to endanger life.
Speaking outside court, Bartook Pandya, who campaigns against racial attacks in Bristol, said the events were not representative of relations between the Hindu and Sikh communities, which he described as "usually very good".
He said: "Those marriages take place [in] lots of places. In India they are quite common. They are quite common here.
"And if this brother decides to fire-bomb, it is his own personal thing, it is nothing cultural, nothing from the community. I do not think the Sikh community would endorse that sort of behaviour."
Sentencing is expected on 6 July 2009.
