Husband accuses clergymen of sexually abusing wife for years in Kerala church
Thiruvananthapuram, July 4 (IBNS): A Kerala man has accused five priests of sexually abusing his wife for decades using their clout as clergymen in a church in the southern state.
The incident was reported after the confession of the accuser was posted online and became viral.
According to the victim's husband, his wife's ordeal started when she was a teenager and went on for two decades.
He said a priest, then a student, had sex with his wife while promising to marry her.
Later, when things didn't go as planned and she resorted to confessing the incident at the church, another priest took advantage of her by blackmailing the lady.
The cycle of abuse continued as she was forced into sex by three more clergymen at the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in Kottayam, located in south-west Kerala.
Speaking to news outlet NDTV, the accuser said, "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."
He said that after the case surfaced, he is facing pressure from the church and its followers to withdraw the complaints.
The woman too has recorded her statement with the police, who have filed a rape case against four priests, however, 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 the outlet.
Christianity is India's third biggest religion after Hinduism and Islam.
Almost 18 percent of Kerala's 3.48 crore (34.8 million) population adhere to the Christian belief.
Image: Wallpaper
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