Police say that the victim approached the church after the incident to post a formal complaint against the priest. (File) Police say that the victim approached the church after the incident to post a formal complaint against the priest. (File) A rape case against a priest belonging to the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church has been filed in Kayamkulam in Alappuzha district of Kerala. The complainant, a married woman of two children, alleges that the priest in question, Binu George who was in the Mavelikara diocese of the church at the time, raped her inside the church office in Koipally in 2014 after calling her to solve a family matter. “They spoke for about half-an-hour regarding the family dispute. Then he closed doors and sexually assaulted her,” said a crime branch officer in charge of the investigation. Police say that the victim approached the church after the incident to post a formal complaint against the priest. After several consultations, he was reportedly transferred to another church in Ranni in another district. But the priest reportedly continued harassing the victim by sending her lewd messages and spreading rumours about her, said the officer. A case of rape under section 376 (2f) of the IPC has been charged against Fr George and will be investigated by the crime branch of the Kerala Police. It is not clear whether the accused priest is still based in Ranni. The case comes just weeks after another married woman accused four priests belonging to different dioceses of the Orthodox church in Kerala for blackmailing her over a ‘confession’ she made in church and sexually assaulting her over the years. The priests have been booked for rape by the crime branch. The woman’s husband, in an interview to the Indian Express, said he wants the accused priests to be defrocked so that they are made an example of before the community.<doc-sep>Kerala Orthodox church 'sex-for-silence' row: Crime Branch books 4 priests for rape Four priests viz. Fr Abraham Varghese, Fr Job Mathew, Fr Johnson Mathew and Fr Jaise George have been booked. news Crime The Crime Branch (CB) in Kerala on Monday booked four priests of the Malankara Orthodox church on charges of rape and molesting a woman. A man from Thiruvalla had alleged that five priests of the church had been sexually abusing his wife for several years, after one of them threatened her using her confession secret. Four priests viz. Fr Abraham Varghese, Fr Job Mathew, Fr Johnson Mathew and Fr Jaise George have been booked on charges of rape and molestation. The case was registered against the priests after the investigating team recorded the survivor's statement. According to CB sources, Fr Job Mathew is accused of blackmailing the survivor using her confession secret way back in 2009. While the survivor's husband has accused five priests, sources in the department say that the survivor has named only four priests. The survivor had reportedly confessed about her relationship prior to her marriage to Fr Job, after which, he allegedly threatened that he would disclose it to the survivor's husband. Subsequently, more priests began to threaten her and demand sexual favours. On Friday, days after the case came to light, state DGP Loknath Behera directed the CB to initiate a probe into the issue. This development comes in the wake of mounting pressure on the state police for not having registered a suo motu case, despite the survivor's husband revealing to the media that his wife was sexually abused. The survivor's husband had also alleged that despite him complaining to the Church months ago, it took no action against the accused priests. Meanwhile, the Church relieved the accused priests from their official duties and sent them on leave, instead of proceeding with disciplinary action or reporting the crime to the police. Police finally intervened after criticism arose even from National Commission for Women (NCW) and Communist leader VS Achuthanandan writing to the state DGP to initiate a probe into the allegations.<doc-sep>A woman has accused 5 priests of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of sexually abusing, blackmailing her. Five priests in Kerala are being investigated over allegations that they sexually assaulted a woman for almost 20 years in a cycle of abuse and blackmail. Two of the priests today approached a court for protection from arrest. The woman's story was exposed when an audio clip of her husband complaining to a church official was posted and circulated online. The 36-year-old man has alleged that the priests, who are based at the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in Kottayam, sexually abused and blackmailed his wife for years. It started when, as a teenager in the 1990s, the woman was allegedly forced into sex by a priest. She confessed to a second priest, who allegedly blackmailed her into sex. Speaking to NDTV, her husband said when she reached out to the priests for help, they threatened and assaulted her. "The main culprit, the Father, promised to marry her and continued to manipulate her. The Father was a student at that time. Even after finishing his seminary and becoming a priest, he continued the same pattern. Even after we got married in 2006, the priest continued to sexually abuse my wife, blackmail her, saying that he would tell me everything. I got to know all this only in February," the husband said. Then two more priests threatened her and forced her into sex, the woman has reportedly told the police. The woman has recorded her statement with the police and provided horrifying details about the role of priests who allegedly used her confessions to blackmail her. The police have filed a rape case against the four priests. No arrests have been made yet. "We have filed cases of rape against the priests because though this may appear consensual, there is blackmailing involved. And this amounts to rape. There are several procedures involved before the arrest, which includes the statement to the court. Arrests will follow," a senior crime branch official told NDTV. The woman's husband alleges that he is under immense pressure from the church and its followers. The woman is currently with her parents. While the police has recorded her statement, the church has not heard her yet, according to the husband. In another case, a nun has filed a complaint against a Roman Catholic Bishop Father Mullakal in Jalandhar, alleging that he sexually abused her several times between 2014 and 2016. However, it was the bishop who filed a first complaint saying that he was being threatened after he took disciplinary action against the Sister. The police have filed a case of rape against the bishop. Christianity is the country's third-biggest religion according to the 2011 census, with approximately 28 million followers or 2.3 percent of the population.<doc-sep>
Kerala church sex-for-silence case: Survivor tells cops how her story unfolded from 1999 Police officers told TNM that her declaration to the Church will not stand in a court of law. news Crime The controversy surrounding sexual abuse allegations against five priests of Malankara Orthodox Church in Kerala has turned murkier. On Monday, Mathrubhumi News aired portions of a declaration said to be hand-written by the survivor, in which she mentions five priests of the Orthodox church. This document was reportedly given to the Church by her husband along with his complaint two months ago. However, a senior police officer with the Kerala Crime Branch who is part of the investigation told TNM that the statement will not stand in a court of law. He added that the â€˜declarationâ€™ that hinted at consensual relationships was only half the truth as there are clear signs of abuse in each of these â€˜relationshipsâ€™. "This declaration cannot be considered as proof, it is only one that was given to the Church. We have recorded the survivor's detailed statement, in which she has said that one of the priests threatened her using her confession statement, based on which, we have booked them," the officer said. The survivor had on Sunday given a statement to the Crime Branch, that is investigating the case. A senior officer in the Crime Branch, part of the investigation team that has now booked four priests for rape and molestation, however said that the declaration given to the Church does not hold any legal importance. According to sources in the Crime Branch, the survivor's relationship (prior to her wedding) with Fr Abraham Varghese began in 1999. She was a minor then and Abraham was studying to be a priest. Though the priest got married, he wanted her to continue the relationship, according to her statement. It went on after her wedding too. In 2009, during her child's baptism, she reportedly confessed to another priest about her relationship with Fr Abraham Varghese. He in turn, is alleged to have threatened her and demanded sexual favours. Following this, she confided in another priest Fr Job Mathew who was also her friend. TNM does not have details of the nature of her complaint against him. The fourth priest that she has mentioned in her complaint is a counsellor who works with the church. During the course of counseling, this priest is also alleged to have sexually abused her. From December 2016 onwards, the counsellor had asked the woman to book themselves in five star hotels. The survivor told the police that unable to afford the hotel bills, she was even forced to borrow or steal money from her family. The Crime Branch has booked four priests Fr Abraham Varghese, Fr Job Mathew, Fr Johnson Mathew and Fr Jaise George on charges of rape and molestation.