Despite the efforts of the accused to buy silence from the prosecution witnesses in a case filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, PN Vinod, the additional district and sessions judge, Thalassery, sentenced Father Robin Vadakkumchery, a former Christian priest at St Sebastian Church, Kottiyoor to 20 years rigorous imprisonment. The accused was also fined a sum of Rs four lakh as fine.
The prosecution case, which shook the consciousness of people in Kerala was that Robin, the then priest of the church lured a 16 year old school student, raped her and impregnated her in May 2016. The girl gave birth to a child in the Church-run hospital in February 2017.
Though there were 8 witnesses in the case, the accused managed to turn majority of them including the victim and her parents hostile. The former priest argued that the girl was a minor when he raped her and hence the case under POCSO ACT was not maintainable. What shocked the people of the State was the political patronage enjoyed by the accused.
The witnesses included many priests and nuns belonging to various institutions being run by the Church. The prosecution won the case thanks to the birth certificate they collected from the hospital where the girl delivered the baby.