As the number of Love Jihad cases has increased in Kerala, the Bishop of Palai diocese of the Syro-Malabar Church issued a letter on Saturday to warn Christian families to be careful against various ‘groups’ trying to trap young girls from their community.
In the letter, Bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangatt of the Palai diocese revealed how certain people are laying traps to befriend young girls of the local community through phone calls.
“You must be aware of the various sections and groups that have been trying to trap our female children with various tactics,”, he said, reports Times of India.
Bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangatt also talked about their modus operandi. He said that alleged callers first get in touch with local representatives or community leaders and then introduce themselves as former priests from the parish.
Then they proceed to ascertain contact information of local young girls, by claiming that will get in touch with them for some academic work such as paper presentations in a foreign country.
“If the receiver expresses any doubt about the voice of the caller, the answer would be that he has just returned from abroad and the difference in voice was because of the weather in the foreign country. They would first pretend to be talking on subjects like honesty and about mother-daughter relationships,” explained bishop in the letter.
“But in a while, the topic and the style of language would change to get the information they want. And this kind of trap in various forms has now become common,” the letter read further.
Shedding more light on this matter, Father Joseph Thadathil, vicar general of the Pala diocese informed that this group specifically seeks contacts of girls aged 16-22 and so far multiple incidents have been reported in the past three-four months. Reportedly, many girls underwent mental trauma.
“It is not sure whether the intention is religious, drugs or sex,” said the vicar-general of the powerful Syro Malabar Church. They have now discreetly alerted the families living in the diocese about the increase in ‘Love Jihad’ cases in Kerala.
Earlier, the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC), came down heavily on the Pinarayi Vijayan-led state government and also blamed the Union Government for its apathy and turning a blind eye to the issue. The body has called for proper probe into the case of “missing women and children”.
An official communique released last year by the Media Commission of the Syro-Malabar Church said, “The menacing rise of Love Jihad stands to imperil the communal harmony and peace in Kerala. It is a fact that Christian girls are being targeted by the love jihad in the state,” the Synod stated explicitly in the press release.
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