Kerala priest who spoke against child abuse arrested for raping minor girl

February 28, 2017

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 28: A priest who spoke against child abuse was arrested in Kerala for alleged rape of a minor which led to her pregnancy, police said on Tuesday.

priest
The 17-year-old gave birth to a baby at a private hospital last month and the accused had shifted both the mother and the newborn to an orphanage in north Kerala’s Wayanad to hush up the incident.

Father Robin Vaddakumchiryil (48), the vicar of St Sebastian church in Kottiyoor, was arrested after the girl narrated the incident to officials of childline, a telephone helpline for children in distress. Childline officials then tipped off police.

The church official had allegedly abused the girl at the computer class provided by the church, police said.

A spokesperson of the Thalasserry diocese said the priest has been taken out of all religious duties.

Police said a DNA test will be held on the priest to ascertain to strengthen the case against him. Police have also booked the private hospital, where she delivered a baby, for not informing police.

“The priest also made an attempt to implicate the girl’s father in the case. Since the family is from an economically weaker section he tried to implicate him and told many about this,” said deputy superintendent of police Prajeesh, who uses only his first name. The priest was planning to travel to Canada to evade arrest, he said.

A police official said the priest was the chief guest at a function organised recently against crime against children. He was also known to have spoken on the issue earlier.

Police quoted the minor as saying that she has been in trauma for the last two years and the priest threatened her not to reveal the incident to anyone. Fearing social stigma, her parents also kept silent. They are also likely to be questioned.

The victim’s family lives near the church and the girl used to visit the church regularly.

The priest has been charged under stringent provisions of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act (Pocso) and IPC.

The new born was later shifted to a government-run home, said Peravur police inspector N Sunil Kumar, who is investigating the case.

The government had recently decided to fast-track cases related to sexual assault on minors.

Activists say that in most cases of child sexual abuse, the victims are known to the accused.

Data from the National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB) show that in 2015, more than 15,000 children faced sexual assault. In more than 8,300 incidents, the accused was known to the child.

Comments

DABBU
 - 
Tuesday, 28 Feb 2017

Gud job padre,,,,,,we need more of it ,,,,u r nothing but a reflection of ur aliance wid the devil...

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News Network
May 18,2024

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In a fresh claim, arrested BJP leader and advocate G Devaraje Gowda has alleged that Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and four other ministers were behind exposing Prajwal Revanna’s sex scam that has brought disgrace to Janata Dal (Secular) H D Deve Gowda family. 

Devaraje Gowda has been arrested in a sexual abuse case. 

Speaking to reporters while being taken to the district prisons, in Hassan on Friday, Gowda alleged that he was offered Rs 100 crore to drag the name of H D Kumaraswamy in the Prajwal’s case. 

“D K Shivakumar had offered me Rs 100 crore to project that H D Kumaraswamy was behind the case. The offer was made through ministers N Chaluvarayaswamy, Krishna Byre Gowda, Priyank Kharge and another minister. They had even sent Rs 5 crore as advance to Bowring Club. But I did not agree. Hence, they hatched a plot to trap me,” Gowda alleged.

“It is D K Shivakumar, who collected all information from Prajwal Revanna’s former car driver Karthik and readied the pen drive. A team of four ministers were formed to handle the issue. As I did not agree to the plan. They planned to bring disrepute to the BJP, Narendra Modi and H D Kumaraswamy,” he said.

Gowda further alleged that former MLC M A Gopalaswamy of Channarayapatna was sent to him for negotiation.

“The main intention of D K Shivakumar is to bring disrepute to Modi and BJP in the case. Besides, he wanted to defame H D Kumaraswamy’s leadership in the state” he claimed. “They filed a sexual harassment and rape case against me, but found no evidence. Now, they are trying to fix me in the pen drive case” he alleged.

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News Network
May 7,2024

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Udupi: Udupi became the second city on the Karnataka coast after Mangaluru to launch water rationing, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Commissioner of the Udupi City Municipal Corporation Rayappa said that the rationing system will come into force from Wednesday and will continue till the water in the reservoir reaches comfortable levels.

The dam built across the Swarna river at a place called Baje, which is the only source of water for Udupi city, recorded 3.25 meters of water as against the top level of 6.30 meters.

The decision of water rationing will be reviewed periodically until the reservoir regains its fullest levels, the official said.

The Mangaluru City Corporation resorted to water rationing on Saturday following declining water levels in the reservoir built across the Nethravati river at Thumbe. 

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News Network
May 4,2024

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Mangaluru, May 4: A tragic incident unfurled last evening in Subrahmanya of Kadaba taluk in Dakshina Kananda, where a young gentleman, who had recently entered the bonds of matrimony a mere ten days hence, met his untimely demise due to a lightning strike.

As twilight descended, a tempestuous thunderstorm, accompanied by billowing rain clouds, cast its shadow over the locale.

Somasundar was diligently engaged in the task of piling up dried nuts in the yard to shield them from the impending deluge, when fate cruelly intervened, subjecting him to the fatal force of a lightning bolt.

Despite the expeditious efforts to convey him to Kadaba Community Hospital subsequent to his sudden indisposition, he tragically succumbed to his injuries. 

Somasundar, who operated a car washing enterprise in proximity to Subrahmanya, is mourned by his mother, sister, and wife.

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