Kerala Priest Gets Double Life Term for Raping Minor

Deccan Herald
December 9, 2016

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/585578/kerala-priest-gets-double-life.html

A 41-year-old Catholic priest was on Thursday sentenced to double life imprisonment after he was convicted for raping a minor girl. A special court in Ernakulam also ruled that Fr Edwin Figarez, who was vicar at the Lourdes Matha Church in Puthenvelikkara in Ernakulam district, will have to pay a fine of Rs 2.15 lakh. He will serve the two life terms concurrently.

The priest was booked in April last year based on a complaint filed by the mother of the 14-year-old victim. The prosecution’s case is that Figarez repeatedly sexually abused the girl between January and March 2015, after taking her to his parsonage. The priest’s brother, Sylvester Figarez, was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment for helping the accused evade the police.

Following the revelation of the victim, then a Class IX student, her mother had taken her to a local primary health centre in March last year. Dr Ajitha, however, did not report the matter to the police, and so was named one of the accused in the case. Though the court found the doctor guilty, she was let off under provisions of the Probation of Offenders Act.