Kottiyoor rape case: Court orders priest, four nuns to surrender in five days

The Kerala High Court has issued an ultimatum to former Child Welfare Committee (CWC) chairman Fr. Thomas Joseph Therakam and four Catholic nuns who allegedly helped Christian priest who raped and impregnated a minor girl from Kottiyoor in Kerala. While considering the anticipatory bail plea of the five accused in the case, the court directed them to surrender before the investigating officer within five days. 
 

Related: Kannur rape case: Father of victim took the blame to save Catholic priest from disgrace
 

The court observed that the charges against the priest and nuns were bailable. Hence, they should appear before the investigating officer first and then seek bail. The court also directed the police to present the accused before the court on the day of their surrender and grant them conditional bail.  Therakam and four nuns have been absconding since the police listed them as accused in the case. 
 

Related: Rapist priest gets CWC help while tribal youths land in jail for customary marriage

Joseph Therakam, who was removed as the chairman of the CWC Wayanad last week after he was accused of helping Catholic priest  Robin Vadakkancheril, 48, who was arrested for raping and impregnating a minor girl at Kannur.  

When the rape victim gave birth, the CWC helped to shift the newborn to an orphanage run by a Christian convent in Wayanad. The CWC headed by Therakam also claimed that all procedures had been met before shifting the baby to the orphanage run by a Catholic monastery on the very day of birth.  

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