Catholic Priest Charged with Raping 9-year-old Girl in Kerala

India Today
April 25, 2014

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/catholic-priest-charged-with-raping-9-year-old-girl-in-kerala/1/357732.html

Raju Kokken

A catholic priest is on the run since the police registered a case against him on Friday for raping a nine-year-old girl, who was attending church classes for receiving first Holy Communion.

The girl's parents alleged that she was sexually assaulted several times in April and Fr Raju Kokken, 40, Vicar of the St. Pauls Church at Thaikkattussery in Thrissur, shot nude pictures of her in his mobile phone. Following the complaint and after internal inquiry, Thrissur Arch Diocese had ousted the priest from the Church.

According to Ollur Police, the girl was lured by the priest with promise of free robes for the Holy Communion and the Vicar raped the girl thrice in April in his office room. The girl, who hails from a poor family, was forced to go naked before him when the Vicar asked her to remove her clothes in the pretext of checking whether the Holy Communion dress suits her or not. The girl told police that she was sexually assaulted thrice by the priest afterwards. The girl said that the priest took her naked photographs in his mobile phone.

The police confirmed the rape after conducting a medical examination of the victim. The police registered the case against the Vicar under various non-bailable sections of the IPC and Section 66 (a) of the Information Technology Act.

The police have intensified search for the alleged rapist.