Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Catholic Kottiyoor, Kerala, India · 2021

India: priest convicted of raping a sixteen-year-old parishioner; upheld by the Kerala High Court

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

parish priest (vicar)

Organization

St Sebastian Parish, Kottiyoor, Diocese of Mananthavady

Spiritual nexus

The complainant was a minor parishioner of the church where the defendant was vicar, inside the pastoral relationship his office created with her family.

Pastoral or clerical authority

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2021-12-03 · conviction; upheld on appeal with partial sentence modification

POCSO Court, Thalassery, Kerala; Kerala High Court. Fr Robin Vadakkumchery, vicar of St Sebastian Parish Kottiyoor, was convicted in 2019 of raping and impregnating a 16-year-old parishioner in 2016 and sentenced to 20 years. The Kerala High Court upheld the conviction in 2021, modifying one sentence component. He was subsequently dismissed from the clerical state.

Appellate history

2021-12-03 · undefined

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Documented coercion mechanisms

pastoral authority over a minor parishioner and her family

Primary record

Sources

national newspaper court reporting verdict and sentencing report 'Kerala priest Fr. Robin gets 20 years in jail for raping, impregnating minor girl', The News Minute (2019).: Reports the POCSO court conviction and sentence.
legal publisher court reporting appellate disposition SCC Online, 'Kottiyoor Rape Case' (3 Dec. 2021).: Indian legal publisher's summary of the Kerala High Court's affirmance.

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