A 33-year old Catholic priest, Father Prakash Damor has been arrested in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh for abetting a 17-year-old girl’s suicide, as per reports.
As per reports, inspector Kailash Chauhan of Ranapur police station has stated that the suicide note of the girl, who had allegedly hanged herself at her house on January 4, stated that Father Prakash Damor was harassing the minor girl to marry him.
Some media reports have also stated that the Church priest was pressurising the girl to convert to Christianity.
“We arrested him under IPC section 306 (abetment of suicide) and also under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act Tuesday (January 15),” Chauhan said.
Reportedly, the accused Christian priest Prakash Damor had first met the minor victim at a missionary school where she was studying in Class 11. The police officials said that Father Damor was produced before a court the same day and was remanded in judicial custody.
Jhabua Catholic Diocese spokesperson Father Rockey Shah has reportedly stated that the Church stands with the girl’s family in their grief while claiming that Damor has been booked without proper investigation. “We want an in-depth inquiry so that the real culprit is arrested,” he said.
The country has been rocked by repeated rapes and other abusive incidents at Churches, as recently Franco Mulakkal, a Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar, was arrested and released on bail later for allegedly raping a 44-year old nun at a guest house in Kuravilangad in May 2014. Similarly, Father Johnson V Mathew, a priest of Malankara Orthodox church was accused in the rape and sexual abuse of a married woman belonging to the fold was arrested in July.
In another incident, a 60-year-old pastor named Chandra Kumar belonging to a local church in Nagaland was arrested for allegedly raping a 10-year-old girl in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district.
Recently, a special Mahila Court in Cuddalore had sentenced a church priest to 30 years in prison and nine others to life in prison for their involvement in the horrifying 2014 Tittakudi rape case, which involved two minor girls.
