Pastor in Idukki District, Kerala, India, Arrested on Charges of Sexual Assault During Counselling

Police in Kerala state, in southern India, arrested Father Santosh Mathew, vicar of a Church of South India (CSI) congregation in Idukki district, on March 15. The 53-year-old pastor is accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman who had approached him for counselling. He has not been convicted of any offense.

According to a police complaint, the alleged crime took place on Feb. 7, when the woman and her mother came to Mathew for counselling. The complaint states that he asked her mother to pray inside the church and then took the woman to the presbytery, where he allegedly sexually assaulted her. The woman’s family complained to police about the alleged assault last month, and Mathew had been absconding since that complaint.

A police team tracked Mathew to the Catholic Marian pilgrimage center in Velankanni, in neighboring Tamil Nadu. A court in Kerala remanded him to 14-day judicial custody.

Bishop Malayil Sabu Koshy Cherian of the CSI’s Madhya (Central) Kerala diocese has directed all priests in the diocese to conduct pastoral counselling sessions under CCTV surveillance, a measure meant to protect those who seek counsel (Psalm 82:3). Diocesan treasurer Father Jiji John Jacob told UCA News on March 18 that the recordings will be strictly for safety and evidential purposes, and that the privacy of those seeking counselling will also be protected.

Mathew has been suspended following his arrest. Jacob said the diocese is conducting an internal probe “to know the truth about the charges against him.” Father Aniyan K. Paul, the diocesan clergy secretary, said the CSI has a zero-tolerance policy for the sexual abuse of women.

A Church official who did not want to be named told UCA News that the priest had a clean record and said the church would wait for the police to complete their probe. The official also said that several people within the diocese and parish believe Mathew has been deliberately trapped in the case to settle personal enmity and family feuds. These are claims made by those individuals and have not been established.

The CSI was formed in 1947, after India’s independence from Britain, as a union of Protestant denominations. Its counterpart in north India is the Church of North India (CNI). With about 4 million members, the CSI is the second-largest Christian denomination in India, and it has 24 dioceses, including one in neighboring Sri Lanka.

Source: Read the original report