Thiruvananthapuram: A Catholic priest in Kerala is being questioned by police over allegations that he sexually abused and impregnated a 16-year-old Class XI student in Kottiyoor, Kannur district.
The 48-year-old priest, Robin Vadakkumcherry was arrested on Monday from Thrissur district after a massive search operation by the police in multiple districts. Police officials said it was a “big effort” to net the priest and that local people had co-operated with the police team.
Officials said the priest had confessed to having committed the crime.
They said they suspected the priest to have been attempting to fly abroad using the influence of some well-placed contacts, and that they had nabbed him in the nick of time.
The priest is being held under the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). The stringent provisions of the Act make it difficult for an accused booked under the Act to get bail.
Vadakkumcherry, who is a manager of a secondary school and a priest in a local church, is accused of luring the child to his quarters adjacent to the church building and sexually abusing her.
The matter came to public knowledge only about three weeks ago when the schoolgirl delivered a baby boy.
The newborn was shifted to an orphanage run by nuns, in an apparent bid to keep the matter under wraps.
However, police began pursuing the priest two days ago when the girl’s mother made a formal complaint on the advice of Child Line authorities. The baby boy has since been moved to a government-run institution.
The case has hogged the limelight in local media particularly because the priest is accused of having tried to influence the victim to say that it was her own father who had impregnated her. But once the district Child Line officials came to learn the matter it quickly came to public light.
Charges will also be filed against the hospital where the baby was delivered, for suppressing information, police officials said.
On Tuesday, police took the priest to the Kottiyoor church premises for information gathering, under considerable security cover, fearing an emotional outpouring from parishioners.
