A senior priest of Kerala’s Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and two Catholic nuns, co-accused in the case pertaining to the rape of a 16-year-old girl by Fr Robin Vadakkumchery, vicar of the parish church in Kottiyoor, Kannur district in May, 2016, surrendered before the investigating officer on Friday. However, they were granted bail by a court later in the day.
Fr Thomas Joseph Therakam, former chairman of the Wayanad district Child Welfare Committee (CWC), its former member and pediatrician Senior Dr Betty Jose and Sr Ophelia, superintendent of the Holy Infant Mary Girls’ Home orphanage at Vythiri in Wayanad district, surrendered before the investigating officer, Circle Inspector Sunil Kumar of the Peravur police station in Kannur, early Friday morning. They had reached the police station with their lawyers.
Fr Therakam, Sr Betty and Sr Ophelia, respectively the 9th, 10th and 8th accused in the case, had surrendered as per the instruction issued by the High Court on Tuesday that they should surrender within five days. The second accused, Thankamma, who has also been asked to surrender, is expected to do so on Saturday. There are a total of 10 accused in the case – in which Fr Robin is the first – including six Catholic nuns.
The Peravur police had arrested Robin, vicar of the St Sebastian’s Church in Kottiyoor, has been accused of raping the girl, a Plus I student of a Church-run school of which he was manager, in the parsonage of his church several times in May, 2016. The newborn baby was secretly transferred to the Vythiri orphanage as part of hushing up the scandal.
Fr Therakam and four nuns – Sr Dr Betty of the CWC, Sr Ophelia of the Vythiri orphanage, Sr liz Maria and Sr Aneetta of the Christu Dasi Convent in Thonichal – were named as accused for the irregularities they had allegedly committed in the procedures of adoption of the rape victim’s child, allegedly in their urgency to hush up the scandal of the clerical sexual abuse. The other accused in the rape case are Sr Dr Tessy Jose and Sr Ancy Mathew, respectively gynecologist and administrator of the hospital where the victim delivered her baby, and Dr Hyderali, pediatrician of the same hospital. Fr Robin was arrested on February 27 from Chalakudy in Thrissur district as he was preparing to flee to Canada.
The Additional District and Sessions Court in Thalassery, where the police produced Fr Therakam and Sr Betty and Sr Ophelia on Friday afternoon, granted bail to them on six conditions including surrendering of passports, appearing before probe officer every Monday and abstaining from any effort to influence or threaten witnesses. “There has been no lapse on my part. That is what the HC has said,” Fr Therakam said after he was granted bail.
While considering their applications for anticipatory bail last Tuesday, the HC had instructed the police to produce them in the concerned court immediately after they surrendered.
While considering their advance age the HC had also opined that they could be granted bail immediately.