Indian Christian Community Rebukes Slayer's Album

Following complaints from the Christian community in India, U.S. heavy metal band Slayer's latest album has been pulled from music stores across the country, as the Christians claimed that the cover of the album was insulting.

The album cover depicts Christ with amputated arms and a missing eye.

According to Christian groups, the album, Christ Illusion, did not only have an offensive image on its cover, but some of the songs such as "Skeleton Christ" and "Jihad" hurt the sensibilities of Christians and Muslims alike.

"We took strong exception to the album which is offensive and in very bad taste," said Joseph Dias of Mumbai's Catholic Secular Forum.

The protests prompted EMI Music, Slayer's Indian-based label, to pull the album from all music stores and its depots.

"Last week we recalled all the albums and destroyed them as we did not want any community to be hurt," said T. Suresh, the company general manager.

In May, Christians, who make up about two per cent of Hindu-majority India's one-billion plus population, protested against the screening of "The Da Vinci Code", and forced its producers, Sony Pictures, to add a disclaimer saying the movie was a work of fiction.