INDIA
The News Minute
July 13, 2018
Crime Branch officials arrested Fr Johnson Mathew, the third accused, from Kozhencherry.
A day after one of the four Orthodox Church priests accused of raping a woman from Thiruvalla surrendered, one more accused priest, Fr Johnson Mathew, has landed in the police net.
The third accused in the case, the Crime Branch reportedly took him into custody from Kozhenchery in Pathanamthitta district on Friday, following which his arrest was recorded.
Fr Johnson Mathew, along with three other priests, has been booked under charges of rape and molestation by the Crime Branch.
According to the survivor’s statement, Fr Johnson Mathew sent her sexually coloured messages on WhatsApp and sexually assaulted her in a car. He also allegedly morphed the survivor’s face onto a nude photograph of another woman and threatened to circulate it on the internet. According to her statement, Fr Johnson Mathew was her senior in college and got in touch with her on WhatsApp.
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