Catholic priest who raped 14-yr-old girl during ‘confession’ surrenders

December 9, 2015

Kochi, Dec 9: A catholic priest, wanted in a case of alleged rape of a teenaged girl earlier this year, has finally surrendered before police at Aluva near here.

Police said Edwin Figarez, the priest attached to the Lourdes Matha Church, Puthenvelikkara in Ernakulam district, surrendered before Aluva Deputy SP P P Shams.

A lookout notice was issued against him after Kerala High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea in May this year.

Police said he has been taken into custody by the probe team. The priest will be produced before the court tomorrow, they said.

Figarez had been missing ever since the High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea on May 5.

A spokesperson for Kottappuram Diocese had earlier said Figarez had been "suspended for the time being" from parish services after a pastoral commission appointed by the Bishop prepared a "preliminary report" about the alleged incident of sexual assault of the 14-year-old in a church complex between January and March this year, mostly when she came for confession.

In her complaint, the girl's mother had alleged that the priest abused her daughter many times when she sought his services for confession.

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Elusive bamboo shrimp resurfaces in Mangaluru estuary after 70 years

News Network

December 7,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 7: A rare bamboo shrimp has been rediscovered on mainland India more than 70 years after it was last reported, confirming for the first time the presence of Atyopsis spinipes in the country. The find was made by researchers from the Centre for Climate Change Studies at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, during surveys in Karnataka and Odisha.

The team — shrimp expert Dr S Prakash, PhD scholar K Kunjulakshmi, and Mangaluru-based researcher Maclean Antony Santos — combined field surveys, ecological assessments and DNA analysis to identify the elusive species. Their findings, published in Zootaxa, resolve decades of taxonomic confusion stemming from a 1951 report that misidentified the species as Atyopsis moluccensis without strong evidence.

The shrimp has now been confirmed at two locations: the Mulki–Pavanje estuary near Mangaluru and the Kuakhai River in Bhubaneswar. Historical specimens from the Andaman Islands, previously labelled as A. moluccensis, were also found to be misidentified and actually belong to A. spinipes.

The rediscovery began after an aquarium hobbyist in Odisha spotted a shrimp in 2022, prompting systematic surveys across Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru. Four female specimens were collected in Mulki and one in Odisha, all genetically matching.

Researchers warn the species may exist in very small, vulnerable populations as freshwater habitats face increasing pressure from pollution, sand mining and infrastructure development. All verified specimens have been deposited with the Zoological Survey of India for future reference.

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