A 16-year-old female school student from Kannur, Kerala, was raped in May 2016. The perpetrator was her 51-year-old teacher, Catholic priest Fr Robin Vadakkumchery. Over 2 years after the heinous crime came to light, the accused has been found guilty and sentenced by Thalassery POSCO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) court.
He’s been charged on 3 counts to serve time for 60 years but since the charges are concurrent, he will be jailed for 20 years.
Kerala: Thalassery POCSO court sentences Catholic priest Robin Vadakkumchery to 20 years rigorous imprisonment for raping&impregnating a minor girl in Kannur. He has been sent to 60 yrs rigorous imprisonment in 3 charges including rape. He can serve all the 3 sentences together.
— ANI (@ANI) February 16, 2019
The case was brought to light by an NGO named Childline in Kannur who received an anonymous tip-off.
According to The News Minute, the priest had impregnated her due to which she gave birth in February 2017 at Christu Raj Hospital. When Childline found out about this, they alerted the police.
The victim’s parents, the doctors at the hospital and the nuns at the church – all tried to cover up the case
The doctors who operated on the victim discharged her baby and took the child to an orphanage. The nuns and church administrator who helped the accused have unfortunately been acquitted by the court.
The most shocking, however, is how the parents mislead the victim by telling her she was undergoing an appendicitis operation. During the trial, her father claimed to be the perpetrator himself. Later, it was found that he’d been coerced. As were the mother and victim to provide false statements that she was 18 years old.
Finally, the victim’s birth certificate and a DNA test of the baby helped close the case.