Kerala HC declines anticipatory bail to rape-accused priests
Kochi, July 11 :The Kerala High Court on Wednesday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of three of the four Malankara Orthodox Church priests who have been accused of sexually abusing a woman parishioner.
As the bail plea was strongly opposed by the prosecution, the counsels of the three priests informed the court that their clients were willing to surrender.
But the court pointed out that there were enough evidence against Father Sony Varghese, Father Job Mathew and Father Jaice K. George and declined them bail.
The Crime Branch was expected to arrest the three, and also a fourth priest, who is on the run. A woman who regularly visited the Malankara Orthodox Church had accused five priests of sexually abusing her for a decade.
Her husband had complained that one of the priests, who first exploited his wife, was blackmailing her.
When she sought help from another priest, he too threatened her and shared her contact with a fellow priest and, in the end, she came under duress from at least five priests.
After pressure mounted on the police following the National Commission for Women monitoring the case, the four priests were charged with sexual assault. One of the priests escaped action as the victim had mentioned only four names, a police officer said.
The court last week also refused any relief to the accused, who had sought a direction that police should not arrest them till their bail petition was heard.
The Kottayam-headquartered church has gone into a limbo since the allegations have surfaced.
At least two more women have come out alleging that they too were sexually abused by two other priests of the same church since this case surfaced. Both victims are expected to file complaints.
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
