The Crime Branch of the Kerala Police has initiated a probe into the sex scandal involving five priests of the influential Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church who are accused of sexually abusing a young woman by blackmailing her using confession secret amidst rumours about a move from the part of a section in the Church to derail the case by putting pressure on the victim.
State police chief DGP loknath Behera ordered the Crime Branch probe reportedly on the basis of a letter written to him by former Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan demanding police investigation against the priests and similar demands from various other quarters. The National Commission for Women also had asked the State police chief to investigate the allegation.
The police had so far refused to take up the case on the ground that neither the victim nor her husband, who has approached the Church leadership with the allegation, had registered a complaint. However, they had come under criticism for not abiding by the legal stipulation that sex abuse charges should be probed even in the absence of formal complaints.
Inspector General of Police S Sreejith will head the investigation as per a direction from Crime Branch chief ADGP Shaik Darvesh Saheb. Sreejith has been asked to complete the preliminary investigation and submit his report at the earliest. Superintendent of Police (Crime Branch, Ernakulam) Sabu Mathew has been given the charge of investigating officer.
However, the Crime Branch is unlikely to register a case immediately as the victim has not yet lodged a complaint. The police may limit its probe to a preliminary investigation for ascertaining the veracity of the allegation for the time being and a decision on registering a case will be taken on the basis of its finding.
The Church leadership, which had appointed an internal commission to look into the complaint lodged by the woman’s husband against the priests several weeks ago, welcomed the Crime Branch probe. “We welcome the police investigation as it will lead to the finding of the guilty if there are any,” said Dr MO John, a leader of the Orthodox Syrian Church.
The Crime Branch probe was ordered close on the heels of the start of inquiry proceedings by the commission appointed by the Niranam diocese of the Church to which three of the priests accused of sexual abuse and blackmailing belonged. The commission is expected to submit its report to the Church leadership in the first week of August.
Allegations have come up that a section of the Church leadership is putting pressure on the victim, an unaided school teacher, not to give statement supporting the complaint lodged by her husband, a native of Mallappally in Pathanamthitta district. This is said to be part of a plan to initiate legal proceedings against him for trying to defame the Church through social media.
The scandal had erupted last week after an audio clip containing a purported conversation between the woman’s husband and a Church official in which he alleged sexual abuse of his wife by the priests came out through social media. The man alleged that the priests had used his wife’s secret confession to blackmail her.
In the audio-clip containing the purported conversation between the man and the Church official, he was heard saying, “She had been abused by a priest before the marriage. She had confessed the matter later to a priest but the priest who heard the confession exploited her by threatening to reveal the secret to me. That priest handed her over to another priest by blackmailing her.”
In his complaint to the leadership of the Niranam diocese, the man had mentioned eight priests but sought action only against five as he could not establish the role of the other three. In the audio clip, he was also heard saying that influential people within the Church were putting pressure on him to withdraw the complaint.
The man is claiming to possess evidences to establish how the priests had sexually abused his wife by blackmailing her using the confession secret but he has not so far handed over the original of these to the Church leadership or the commission appointed by it. He is said to be firm that he would hand over these only to the police.
However, the section of Church leadership that is allegedly trying to hush the case is said to be of the belief that the man would not approach the police with a complaint in the absence of a favourable statement from her. The victim, who is staying away from her house presently, is said to be under the Church leadership’s “protection”.
