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Clergy in India arrested for 'suppressing information' on death

Lifeless body of a young woman was found on church property three years ago
Clergy in India arrested for 'suppressing information' on death
Published: August 19, 2016 09:23 AM GMT
Updated: August 19, 2016 09:28 AM GMT

A bishop and three priests have been arrested in southern India for allegedly withholding information related to the death of 19-year-old woman on church property three years ago, reports The Indian Express.

Bishop Thomas Aquinas and the priests — Father Kulantha Raj, Father Madalai Muthu and Father Lawrance Melcure — all from Coimbatore Diocese were arrested Aug. 12 and then released on bail after giving statements.

They were arrested under Indian Penal Code Sections 201 (destroying evidence or giving false information) and 202 (intentionally omitting information) in relation to the death of Fathima Sofia whose body was found on July 23, 2013 in the parsonage of the Catholic Church in Chandrapuram, in Kerala's Palakkad district.

Last year police arrested the then parish priest of St. Stanlisalus Church in Chandrapuram, Father H. Arockyaraj, over the woman's death, which had earlier been ruled as suicide.

The case was reopened last year due to action from the victim's mother, which included claims of sexual misconduct.

Arockyaraj has been dismissed from the church.

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