Thalassery, Feb 16: A POCSO special court here has awarded a total of 60 years of rigorous imprisonment to former Catholic priest Robin Vadakkumcheril for raping a minor girl from Kottiyoor in Kannur district of Kerala.
The priest was accused of raping a 16-year-old girl in May 2016 at Neendunoki, near Kottiyoor, following which the girl delivered a baby at Christu Raj Hospital in Koothuparamba, run by the church, on February 7, 2017.
The court found him guilty under Section 3(a) of POCSO read with section 4 of Pocso Act, section 5 (f) and 5 (j) ii, read with section 6 of POCSO, as also Section 376 (2) IPC and awarded 20 years each all these sections, said public prosecutor BP Saseendran and special public prosecutors Beena Kaliyath.
The priest will have to undergo only 20 years of imprisonment as the court allowed to undergo the sentence in three different offences concurrently. He was awarded 20 years each imprisonment for three different charges under the IPC and POCSO.
The special court that delivered the judgment in the sensational case also imposed a fine of Rs three lakh on the accused, which would be used for the child's welfare. The district legal services authority was also directed to take care of the victim and the child.
Six others accused in the case were acquitted by the court for want of evidence. They included the members of the district child protection committee and the superintendent of the Wayanad orphanage that received the child delivered by the victim.
Efforts were made during the trial to frame that the girl had attained the age of 18 at the time of the incident and she had consensual sex with the priest. But the prosecution countered this by producing the gynaecology report of the victim’s delivery, which proved that she was below 18 at the time of the crime.
The special prosecutor in the case advocate Beena Kaliyath said that the live birth report, also known as the gynec report of the doctor who took delivery of the girl, was very crucial in the case, especially since key witnesses including the victim and parents turned hostile. The key aspect in the case was to prove that the girl was a minor at the time of the rape.
She also said that the court directive to initiate legal action against the victim's parents for becoming hostile would become a strong message to those turning hostile in such sensitive cases. Though the victim also turned hostile, the court did not initiate action against her owing to the humanitarian consideration over the mental trauma that she has suffered.
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