INDIA
NDTV
Reported by Sneha Mary Koshy | Updated: March 18, 2017
KANNUR: A Catholic priest and two nuns accused of shielding fellow priest for the rape of a 17-year-old girl, were released on bail yesterday.
The trio – Child Welfare Committee Chairman, Father Thomas Joseph Therakam, one of the committee members, Betty Jose and Superintendent of the orphanage in Wayanad, Sister Ophelia surrendered to the police in Kerala’s Kottiyoor yesterday morning. They claimed to be unaware of the teen’s rape.
According to the police, several people associated with the accused priest, allegedly tried to help him by concealing facts.
“We have focused on exposing, investigating the role of any one who was involved in any cover-up of the act by the priest. The first accused arrested earlier, used his position as a priest to pressurise the minor’s biological father to take rape blame on himself. Investigation is proceeding impartially,” G Siva Vikram, District Police Chief of Kannur told NDTV.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.