Foetus Exhumed in Teen Rape case, Priest Surrenders

Margashirsha Krushnapaksha 11, Kaliyug Varsha 5115

A church priest, who was on the run after allegedly raping a schoolgirl and forcing her to undergo an abortion, surrendered before a court in Theni district on Friday even as the police exhumed the aborted foetus at Pettai in Tirunelveli district.

The 40-year-old Roman Catholic priest Father Gnanapragasam Selvan, hailing from Kailasapuram near Puliyampatti in Thoothukudi, was serving as a parish priest at the St. Antony’s Church in Pettai. He had come in contact with a class XI girl, aged 16, who was interested in learning carols.

Police said the priest asked her to come to his guest house behind the church to teach the carols and raped her. Five months later, girl’s parents learnt that she was pregnant and confronted Gnanapragasam. He allegedly convinced them to abort the baby after promising to pay adequate compensation.

With the help of a local doctor S Meenakshi, the girl was subjected to an abortion and the five-month old foetus was allegedly buried on the banks of the Karuvelankulam (a local tank) in Tirupanikarisankulam revenue village near Pettai.

However, on Wednesday last the girl’s father filed a complaint at the Tirunelveli Junction All Women Police Station accusing the priest of raping his daughter. Police registered cases under various sections of IPC and  launched a hunt for the priest.

 The priest, who by then escaped, surrendered in a court in Uthampalayam in Theni district on Friday.

Meanwhile, the police exhumed the foetus from the buried spot in the presence of Tirunelveli Thasildar.

Source : New Indian Express