Pandit Devendra Shukla was at the Samaj Temple and his wife and daughter at their West Ramapo Avenue home nearby when a black SUV parked out front this past weekend.
A Ring doorbell camera shows a woman in a COVID mask walking up to the front door, knocking hard twice, then peering into a window.
The woman then heads back to the car and returns with a second woman.
The second one, also wearing a mask with a large scarf wrapped around her head and neck, pulls a cloth glove onto her left hand and tries the door as her companion walks around the side of the house. The door appeared locked.
The woman then heads around the same side of the house, presumably to join her companion.
Theyโre not seen again.
Mahwah Police Chief Timothy OโHara said his detectives are actively working the case.
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๐๐ก๐ฌ๐ข๐ก๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐บ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ/๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ต๐๐ฎ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐: (๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ) ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ต-๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ.
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The women entered an area of the house thatโs being renovated through a side door, a temple volunteer said on Tuesday, Feb. 20.
They fled without taking anything, he said, apparently after hearing the priestโs wife heading to the stairway upstairs.
It was yet another test of Shuklaโs faith, which has buoyed him through a horrific series of ordeals.
Shukla came to America from India with the promise of $500 a week and free room and board to be a priest at a temple in Corona, Queens.
He ended up forced to live in a tiny room and working as much as 18 hours a day doing menial work in addition to his priestly duties.
Shuklaโs passport was also taken from him and he was repeatedly threatened with likely deportation, authorities said.
Shukla fled the church with help from congregants who learned of his plight. He moved his family to Mahwah about 16 years ago.
His troubles didnโt end there.
The priestโs daughter was only 6 and sitting in the back seat of her fatherโs car when a neighbor attacked Shukla at the Interstate Shopping Center off Route 17 in Ramsey five years ago.
Shukla told police he was driving through the parking lot when the man ran up, screamed and called him a โdirty Indian,โ then punched him in the face, authorities said at the time.
The girl was shaken again this past Sunday when the two strangers entered the familyโs home.
โSheโs scared to be alone in the house or go to any part of the house by herself,โ the temple volunteer told Daily Voice.
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