The Kerala High Court on Wednesday lowered the quantum of sentence awarded to former Catholic priest Robin Vadakkuncheril, who Sentenced to twenty years rigorous imprisonment In a sensational case associated to the rape and impregnation of a minor Catholic woman in 2016.
Considering the evaluate petition of the previous priest, a bench of Justice Narayan Pishardi lowered the time period of rigorous imprisonment from 20 years to 10 years. The excessive courtroom modified the costs from part 376(1) to part 376(2), which paved the way in which for lowering RI from 20 years to 10.
Arrested in February 2017, Vadakkuncheril has been in jail since then and has already served a jail time period of almost 5 years.
In August this yr, the rape sufferer had filed a petition within the Supreme Court looking for permission to marry the previous priest, who was turned down after a trial courtroom convicted her. Vadakkuncheril additionally appeared within the petition looking for bail to marry the woman. Before the sufferer moved the apex courtroom, the convicted priest had approached the excessive courtroom looking for permission to marry the sufferer.
The sensational case often known as the “Kottiyur rape case” got here to gentle in February 2017 when a minor woman gave delivery to a baby at a hospital in Kannur district. Vadakkuncheril misbehaved with a minor woman whereas serving as a parish priest below Mananthavady Catholic Diocese in Kerala. The matter got here to gentle when the woman gave delivery to a baby. Under stress from the priest, the sufferer’s father had confessed to the police that he had impregnated his personal daughter. But, inside a couple of days, the police arrested Pujari whereas he was making an attempt to go away the nation, apparently to Canada.
The sufferer and her household had turned hostile throughout the trial. The sufferer had claimed that she had intercourse with the priest on her personal free will. However, the POCSO courtroom in Kannur’s Thalassery had discovered that the woman was a minor on the time of the incident.
In February 2019, the trial courtroom had sentenced Vadakkamcherry to twenty years rigorous imprisonment and a tremendous of Rs 2 lakh. Sister Lis Maria and Sister Anita had been acquitted together with six different accused Thangamma Neliani, Wayanad Child Welfare Committee (CWC) chairman Father Thomas Joseph Therakam, CWC committee member Sister Betty Jose and Sister Ophelia, superintendent of an orphanage in Wayanad. . He was charged as an accused for sexual abuse and his alleged position within the woman’s subsequent little one delivery.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
