BishopAccountability.org
	Malabar Brother Accused of Sex Abuse CathNews March 19, 2010 http://www.cathnewsindia.com/2010/03/19/malabar-brother-accused-of-sex-abuse/ Police in Madhya Pradesh state today registered a case of child sexual abuse against Malabar Missionary Brother John Kuttikati following a complaint from a boy and his parents. The accused is the warden of St. Joseph Bal Bhavan (children’s hostel) attached to a Church school in Panna district of this central Indian state. Church people, however, have rejected the allegation and dismissed the case as a result of rivalry between private schools and the Church school in the district. Investigating police officer N. N. Jharia told UCA News police acted on the complaint of a 10-year-old resident of the hostel. They have sent the boy for a medical examination and will set up a special team to look into the matter, he said. Father Augustine Chittuparambil, the local parish priest, told UCA News that the boy and his parents came to the hostel with media persons and accused the brother of forcing the child to have sex with him. The police said the boy alleged that the brother had taken him to the hostel’s guest room at night. The parish priest says the allegation was apparently a “well-orchestrated case” to tarnish the image of the Church-managed Lisieux Anand Higher Secondary School, where the boy studies. The Church school “has been a threat to mushrooming private schools in the area and hence a case of this heinous nature has been filed against the hostel warden,” he said. The priest also noted the case was filed days before admissions for the new academic year commence. The accused is currently on a vacation to his home state in Kerala, southern India. Father Anand Muttungal, spokesperson of the Catholic Church in Madhya Pradesh, has demanded a fair investigation into the case, which he described as “a well-planned and executed conspiracy against the Church.” The Church has already been falsely accused of religious conversions, he said. But such incidents would not deter the Church from its commitment to look after the educational and heath needs of the poor in the state.
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