Kerala Church sex scandal: 2 priests, accused of raping and blackmailing, surrender before court

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Two of the four priests, accused of sexually abusing and blackmailing a married woman in Kerala's Malankara Orthodox Church, surrendered before the authorities on Monday.

Father Sony Varghese and Father Jaise K George surrendered before Thiruvalla Sessions court. 

The Supreme Court had earlier rejected their anticipatory bail pleas and had directed them to surrender. 

The top court had also asked both the accused priests George and Varghese, to surrender their mobile phones to the police to ensure that the investigation would be carried out properly.

The Supreme Court division bench, headed by Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan, had asked both the accused priests to surrender before the police by August 13. 

"The petition of accused persons is devoid of merits and, thereby, we dismiss their prayers," the two-judge bench of the top court had observed.

A case was registered in June this year against four priests of Malankara Orthodox Church for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in Kottayam. 

The accused allegedly threatened to disclose the victim`s confessions, made in church.

The incident came to light when the victim`s husband recovered an audio clip related to the case, following which investigation was initiated by the church.

The Malankara Orthodox Church had suspended all the priests after the complaint was filed. One out of the four priests of accused in the case surrendered on July 12. 

Meanwhile, the police have questioned more people in Punjab`s Jalandhar city in connection with the case. 

With agency inputs