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Ex-priest, in jail for raping minor, moves HC for nod to marry victim
Thiruvananthapuram: Father Robin Vadakkumchery, a former priest of north Kerala’s Mananthavady diocese, who was sentenced in 2019 for raping and impregnating a minor
Thiruvananthapuram: Father Robin Vadakkumchery, a former priest of north Kerala’s Mananthavady diocese, who was sentenced in 2019 for raping and impregnating a minor girl, moved the Kerala high court on Wednesday to allow him to marry the survivor in a petition jointly signed by the woman who is now a major, and her parents.
Vadakkumchery, who was sentenced to a double life term by the Thalassery POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) court in February last year, said in his petition that he needed parole to solemnise the wedding, and expressed his wish to look after his child and establish his parenthood.
The court is expected to take up his plea on July 24.
Vadakkumcherry, a priest of the Syro-Malabar church, was convicted of raping and impregnating a 16-year-old girl in 2016. The girl gave birth to her child in 2017, and a genetic test confirmed the former vicar’s crime. He was later defrocked by Pope Francis.
The girl, who was a student of a church-run institute where 54-year-old Vadakkumchery taught, was declared a hostile witness for claiming that she was 18 at the time of the rape. However, her birth certificate proved her age. Her father too claimed responsibility for the crime during the investigation but eventually broke down and named the accused. The scientific evidence against the priest was irrefutable.
During the 2018 trial, Vadakkumchery and the survivor’s parents made a similar suggestion of marriage, which the court rejected it before sentencing him to 20 years of concurrent rigorous imprisonment. The trial court had also directed the police to register a case against parents for retracting their statements.
Reformists in the church said it was a ploy by Vadakkumchery to have his sentence commuted. “We are sure the judiciary will see through his designs,” said Shyju Antony, joint convenor of Save Our Sisters, a reformist body floated in the wake of protest against former Bishop of Jalandhar Franco Mulakkal, who is accused of raping a nun.
The case surfaced in 2017 after the rape survivor gave birth to a baby in the church-run Christu Raja Hospital in Koothuparambha of Kannur district. Attempts were made to hush the matter up, and the child was even put up for adoption. Investigations also revealed that the priest was protected by several Church-run institutions. However, six other persons, including the doctors who helped deliver the child and the superintendent of a Wayanad orphanage were acquitted for a lack of evidence.
Vadakkumchery, who was once tipped to become bishop of Mananthavady was arrested near Kochi airport while trying to flee to Canada.
During the trial, the church itself came under criticism as special prayers were conducted in some churches to seek his release on the day the verdict was delivered.
When asked about the latest petition, a spokesperson of the Mananthavady Diocese refused to comment stating that Vadakkumchery was no longer a member of the clergy.
