Widow Sues Church over Abuse Suicide

IOL
November 1, 2012

http://www.iol.co.za/news/world/widow-sues-church-over-abuse-suicide-1.1416207#.UJO-toYY3tQ

The Hague -

A Dutch widow is suing the Roman Catholic Church for R1.1 million over her husband's suicide two decades ago as the result of years of sexual abuse in his youth, local media said Thursday.

The unnamed woman from the eastern city of Enschede “claims 100 000 euros ($129 000) from the Roman Catholic Church which she holds responsible,” local station RTV Oost said on its website.

“According to the woman her husband was abused for years by religious fathers in a mission house in (the southern province of) Brabant without it ever being discovered.” The abuse allegedly took place in the late 1930s.

“He was depressed for years and committed suicide, aged 58,” the station said, adding the woman was looking for people who suffered the same experience. It was unclear why she decided to sue after 20 years.

In an interview with the channel, the elderly woman, whose face was not shown, said: “The children had to satisfy them (sexually).

“He (my husband) had to do certain things and if he did not want to participate, he would be locked in a cupboard. That fear always remained with him,” she said.

An independent Dutch inquiry last year into child abuse committed by Catholic priests found “tens of thousands” of victims over a 65-year period.

The Deetman Commission report, released in mid-December last year identified 800 perpetrators of sexual crimes within the Catholic Church between 1945 and 2010.

The Church has been rocked for several years now by a series of scandals involving paedophilia including in Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Germany and the United States. - Sapa-AFP