Survivor of the 2016 Kottiyur sexual abuse case in Kerala approached the Supreme Court on Saturday with a plea to release the accused Robin Vadakkumchery on bail so that they could get married.
Vadakkumchery, a former Catholic priest and human rights activist in Kerala is serving 20-year jail term allegedly for sexually assaulting and impregnating the victim who was a minor in 2015-2016.
When the girl became pregnant, the priest tried to escape from the case feigning ignorance and innocence. But medical examinations proved that Vadakkumchery was the father of the child and he was sentenced under various sections of the POCSO for 60 years. The Court was lenient and gave him the privilege of serving all the jail terms together which means that he need be in the prison only for 20 years.
Meanwhile he had approached the Kerala High Court praying that he be allowed to marry the victim and requested to set him free. But the High Court quashed his plea and this time the victim herself had requested the apex court that since theirs was a consensual sex, Vadakkumcherry be released on bail, allowed to marry her so that he could look after her and the progeny.
The Catholic Church had defrocked Vadakkumcherry when it was proved that he was responsible for impregnating the girl and since then the former priest has been trying to get freedom from imprisonment. The Supreme Court is expected to hear the plea on Monday.