Two weeks after his arrest, 48-year-old
Rev. Robin Vadakkancheril has been removed by the bishop of the
Mananthavady Diocese from his job as vicar of St. Sebastian church in
Kottiyoor, Kannur district. The priest is accused of abusing a teenage
member of his parish.
The abuse produced a baby boy that the
17-year-old victim delivered last month. The crime happened only once in
the priest's bedroom at the parsonage attached to the church. Rev.
Nobel Parackal, media officer for the diocese in Kerala state, said the
girl was the daughter of farm hands whom he described as bitterly poor.