KERALA (INDIA)
UCA News
June 15, 2020
By Saji Thomas
The action comes after audio and video recordings went viral on social media accusing Kerala priests of sexual abuse
In the latest in a series of clerical sexual abuse cases in India, two Catholic priests have been removed from priestly duties following allegations of sexually abusing women in a parish in Kerala state.
The Archdiocese of Tellicherry, where the priests worked, said in a note on June 14 that Fathers Mathew Mullapally and Jose Poothottal were banned from priestly duties as part of a diocesan investigation. Both priests served Pottanplav parish successively.
Father Poothottal is a religious priest belonging to the Congregation of St. John the Baptist Precursor. The diocese has also urged his superiors to take action against him, the note said.
The archdiocese has set up a three-member panel to probe the charges against Father Mullapally, a priest of the archdiocese.
Records of telephone conversations and video that have gone viral on social media claim the priests forced and coerced several women in the parish to have sex with them.
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