One of the four priests in Kerala belonging to Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church surrendered in Kollam on Thursday.
Father Job Mathew was the second among the four accused of of rape and sexual assault by a 34-year-old woman.
The Kerala High Court had on Wednesday rejected the anticipatory bail petitions of the four priests.
The police had filed rape cases against three priests and one has been accused of molestation. The three other priests are said to be on the run.
The Malankkara Syrian Orthodox Church priests have been accused of rape, based on the statement of a the woman who alleged that she was sexually abused by five priests. In shocking a statement to the police, she had also said that even her confidential confessions were used to blackmail her.
Talking to the media, the husband of the woman said: “She was sexually abused as a minor by one of the four men. She was forced into an illicit relationship once the man became a priest and even got married. She was threatened even after her marriage and sexually abused. When she sought help from three other priests, who were counsellors, they too abused her. One of them, even blackmailed her based on her confession, required to be done as a ritual before our child’s baptism”
While rejecting the bail petitions, the court said, “It appears that the applicants have acted as predators and have taken undue advantage of the position of the survivor. From the version of the survivor it appears that accused have systematically abused her and are closely known to her family. The reasonable possibility of accused to obstruct justice, cannot be brushed aside.”
Veteran CPI(M) leader and chairman of Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission V S Achuthanandan and the National Commission for Women had written to State DGP Loknath Behara, demanding a probe into the charges.
