Documentary record Bound by Fear
← Explore all cases
Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Catholic Puthenvelikkara, Ernakulam, Kerala, India · 2016

India: parish priest convicted of raping a minor parishioner who came to him for confession

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

parish priest, Lourd Matha Church, Kottapuram diocese

Organization

Lourd Matha Church, Puthenvelikkara, Diocese of Kottapuram

Spiritual nexus

The victim, an eighth-standard parishioner, first came under the defendant's authority through confession; he used that pastoral access and her interest in music to arrange repeated private contact.

  • Pastoral or clerical authority

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. 2016-12-08 · conviction; sentence reduced on appeal, conviction upheld

    Special Court (POCSO), Ernakulam, Kerala, India; Kerala High Court (appeal). Fr Edwin Figarez, vicar of Lourd Matha Church, was convicted of repeatedly raping a 14-year-old parishioner who first came to him for confession, and was sentenced to double life imprisonment plus a fine of Rs 2.15 lakh. On appeal, a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court left the conviction intact but reduced the sentence to 20 years without remission.

Appellate history

  1. Conviction upheld; sentence reduced from double life imprisonment to 20 years. Exact appellate decision date not confirmed in sourcing and is omitted rather than guessed.

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • pastoral authority exercised through the confessional
  • exploiting the child's interest in music to arrange private access

Primary record

Sources

advocacy archive court reporting verdict and sentencing report 'Kerala Catholic priest gets double life imprisonment, Rs 2.15-lakh fine for raping minor girl', BishopAccountability.org, Dec. 2016.

Report of the original trial-court conviction and sentence.

partisan outlet lead index appellate disposition 'Father Edwin Figarez gets his POCSO sentence reduced by Kerala High Court', HinduPost.

Report of the Kerala High Court's sentence reduction, confirming the conviction was not disturbed.

Related record

Related cases · Christian institutions & contexts

← Explore all cases