Priests acted as predators, says HC; declines bail to 3

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday rejected the anticipatory bail petitions of three priests of a church accused of raping a woman, observing they acted as “predators” and took “undue advantage” of her.

The three – Abraham Varghese alias Sony, Job Mathew and Jaise K George – had approached the court soon after the crime branch of Kerala Police slapped rape charges against four of the five Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church priests, who were accused of sexually exploiting the victim.

“Prima facie the applicants acted as predators... they have taken undue advantage of the position of the survivor,” Justice R Vijayaraghavan said, dismissing their bail pleas.

According to the woman, she was "systematically abused" by the accused, who were all closely known to her family.

The court said it cannot ignore the prosecution's apprehension that the accused would tamper with evidence and influence the witnesses as the investigation was in the preliminary stages.

“The reasonable possibility of the accused managing to obstruct the course of justice, if released at this stage, cannot be brushed aside,” it said.

The judge said given the gravity of the alleged crime, the evidence present, and the status of the accused with reference to the victim and witnesses, there was a likelihood of the accused fleeing from justice and obstructing its course.