A court in Madhya Pradesh state yesterday remanded a Catholic Religious brother to 10-day judicial custody. Malabar Missionary Brother John Kuttikatil, who was accused of child sexual abuse, had surrendered to police a day earlier.
Police in the tribal-dominated Panna district booked him after they received a complaint from a 10-year-old boy, a resident of St. Joseph Bal Bhavan (children’s hostel) where the accused was warden, and his parents on March 19.
The accused, according to the police, had taken the boy to the hostel guestroom at night and forced him to have sex with him. Medical tests corroborated with the charges, the police added.
The Catholic Church has also ordered an internal investigation into the allegation.
A statement from Father Anand Muttungal, spokesperson of the Catholic Church in Madhya Pradesh, described the case as “a serious allegation and we are concerned about it.” It also said the Church wants the law to “take its course.”
The Church investigation, the statement added, will focus on the truthfulness of the charge and the role of fundamentalist elements in it.
Father Muttungal told UCA News the charge appeared to be a “pre-meditated act to defame the Church and its highly reputed educational institutions.”
The alleged sex abuse incident sparked violent protests from rightwing Hindu groups who forced business establishments to close a day after the boy filed the complaint.
The Hindu activists, according to local parish priest Father Augustine Chittuparambil, damaged a statue of Jesus kept in front of Panna’s St. Joseph Church. They also damaged the main gate of the parish’s Lisieux Anand Higher Secondary School where the boy studied.
The police, however, saved the Church institutions from further damage with the arrest of three persons. Police also cordoned off the area and tightened security in and around the church campus where the school is located.
Father Chittuparambil told UCA News today that the situation was “very tense. We are still under police protection and not able to move out freely.”
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