In a strange twist of justice, the Kerala High Court on Wednesday (December 1), reduced the quantum of sentence that was awarded to an ex-Catholic pedophile priest and convicted rapist Robin Mathew Vadakkumchery from 20 years to 10 years.
Vadakkumchery had raped a minor girl who later became pregnant in 2016 and this case made several headlines and it became famous as the Kottiyoor rape case.
However, in a fresh order before a single-judge Bench of Justice Narayana Pisharadi, the Kerala High Court reduced the charges against Robin from Indian Penal Code Section 376 (2) to Section 376 (1)and thus reduced the term of rigorous imprisonment to 10 years and the appeal filed by the accused was disposed and a fine was imposed.
The catholic priest said the sex with the minor was consensual when he confessed to his crime and the defence counsel had the audacity to justify this heinous crime by citing instances from the Puranas and Indian texts and claiming that it was normal human conduct.
The case of a Catholic priest raping and impregnating a minor girl of his parish came to light in February 2017 after the victim delivered a child at a hospital in Kannur.
Father Robin as he was known to his parishioners had raped and impregnated the victim when he was a priest at the Mananthavady Catholic diocese in 2016.
But what is even more shocking was the extent the Church went to protest this rapist initially when the girl’s father was forced to confess to raping his own daughter which he shamelessly complied or was under intense pressure from the Christain community that was intended to protect the reputation of the Catholic Church.
When the threat of arrest loomed large, father Robin Mathew Vadakkumchery even attempted to flee the country to Canada, however, police caught him before his flight from justice.
In the court when the case was being deliberated, the victim and her family turned hostile and claimed that the sexual act was consensual. However, a POCSO court in Thalassery in Kannur stated that the girl was minor and could not consent to a sexual relationship.
If initially, the Church may have had induced the victim’s father to hold himself guilty of the crime, but in July 2020, the minor girl and the accused filed a joint petition, seeking permission to get married.
However, when the court struck down the petition, they approached the Supreme Court in August this year to get married, but, it was also rejected by the apex court.
The trial court had sentenced Robin Mathew Vadakkumchery to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment in February 2019 and fined ₹2 lacs.
While handing out the verdict, the trial court said, “This is a case where A1 (Robin) by his sexual adventures wrecked the life of a young girl. The wreckage was massive. I am of the view that the sentence to be imposed upon A1 has to match with the gravity of the offences. However, considering the facts that the child born to PW1 (victim) and Al is growing and the child did not have the fortune of meeting his father till date, I desist from imposing life sentence upon Al.”
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