INDIA
UCA News
A bishop has refuted charges that a jailed priest from his central Indian diocese raped a nine-year-old girl.
Father Joseph Dhanaswami, 44, a priest from Ambikapur Diocese in Chhattisgarh state, was arrested Sept. 11 on charges of sexually abusing a fourth-grade student at Jyoti Mission High School where he was principal.
“The priest has been put in jail through no fault of his own,” Bishop Patras Minj of Ambikapur told ucanews.com. The case was fabricated in a bid to defame the church, “which is popular among poor people because of its services,” he said.
The state’s top court rejected a bail application by Father Dhanaswami on Oct. 26 after prosecutors told the court that a chemical analysis found “semen and human spermatozoa” in the girl’s undergarments.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.