Kerala ‘sex for silence’ case: Church’s attempts to cover up abuse fails as govt orders crime branch probe

INDIA
FirstPost

June 29, 2018

By TK Devasia

The attempt by the Malankara Orthodox Church to settle the sexual abuse case against five priests has suffered a setback, with the Kerala government ordering a crime branch investigation into the scandal.

State police chief Loknath Behra has ordered the investigation based on a letter he received from senior ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and former chief minister VS Achuthanandan, said an official at the state police headquarters.

The Kerala State Human Rights Commission and the National Women’s Commission had earlier directed the police to register a case but the police ignored these directions, citing absence of any complaint from either the victim or his family.

Senior high court advocate Mohammed Shah said there was no need for a complaint to register a criminal case if there was a credible information that a crime has been committed. He told Firstpost that the information already available in the present case was sufficient to register a first information report.

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