The Kerala Police probing the rape of a 16-year-old girl by Fr Robin Vadakkumchery (48), a senior priest of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in Kottiyoor, Kannur district, want his alleged foreign connections to be examined. Since the State police are not equipped to hold such a probe, they want another agency to take it up.
A police team from Peravur, Kannur had taken Fr Robin, Vicar of the St Sebastian’s Church at Neendunokki near Kottiyoor and an influential figure both inside and outside the Syro-Malabar Church, from Chalakudy in Thrissur district on February 27 when he was on his way to the Kochi International Airport allegedly to flee to Canada.
The police will soon approach the court for getting Robin, who was on February 28 remanded in judicial custody for two weeks, in their custody for further questioning. The girl, a Plus 1 student of a Church-run higher secondary school of which the priest was manager, had given birth to a baby boy on February 7 at the Church-controlled Christu Raj Hospital, Thokkilangadi.
The police team conducting the probe on the ground has handed over to the higher authorities the details it had collected on the alleged foreign connections of the disgraced priest. The police have reportedly confirmed that Robin had visited Canada several times in the past. They would soon take into custody the priest’s passport which would have details of his aborted trip.
The arrest of Robin on his way to the airport had in fact averted a “political cyclone” in Kerala considering his connections with a controversial businessman who allegedly had close links with a section in the top leadership of the Kerala CPI(M) which is heading the present lDF Government in the State.
“If the priest had succeeded in fleeing the country, it would have sparked off a political cyclone in the State, especially as the Budget session of the Assembly is on. If he had somehow been able to leave for Canada, allegations could have come up to the effect that he had been allowed to go,” said a senior lawyer of the Kerala High Court.
According to police sources, the priest had first abused the minor girl sexually at the parsonage of his church at Neendunokki and had used this incident as a threat in order to exploit her further. They also said that he had tried to hush the matter after he came to know that the girl had become pregnant by offering a hefty sum of money and a new house to the family.
During her interaction with Childline authorities, the victim had first tried to attribute the paternity of her baby to a young man and then to her own father. The truth was revealed later when she was subjected to counseling. There had been efforts by some influential persons who, after coming to know about this, tried to prevent registration of a police case, sources said.
The police are also reportedly examining whether Robin had abused any other girls of the parish sexually. “After this scandal broke, many people in that parish have been airing suspicions that the Plus 1 student need not be the only victim of Robin’s criminal lust. This aspect will have to be probed,” said a source.