The Kerala High Court also reduced the fine from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 1 lakh.
Kochi, Kerala:
The Kerala High Court changed the jail term of former Catholic priest Robin Vadakkumchery from 20 years to 10 years from section 376(2) in section 376(1) in the Kottiyur rape case.
The court also reduced the fine from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 1 lakh for raping a minor and getting pregnant.
A single bench of Justice Narayan Pishardy reduced the jail term after considering an appeal filed by the former priest.
In February 2019, he was sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment after a court found him guilty.
The girl belonged to a Catholic family, where Vadakkumcherry worked as a priest.
In May 2016, the girl, who had appeared for her Class 10 exams at that time, had gone to the ashram in Vadakkumcherry for some data-entry work in the parish. When the other girls went out in the afternoon, the priest took the girl to his bedroom and raped her. Warning him not to tell anyone about the incident, he let her go home. The girl did not say anything to her family. Later she became pregnant, but no one realized this.
On February 7, 2017, the girl developed severe abdominal pain and was rushed to a nearby hospital, which referred her to the Christu Raja Hospital at Koothuparamba in Kannur district, which is run by nuns from the Sacred Heart Congregation. . On investigation it was found that the girl was pregnant, later she gave birth. He told his mother about the incident, following which the family took up the matter with Vadakkumcherry, who offered to pay the hospital bill of Rs 30,000.
Later, he was arrested from Kochi in February 2017.
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