Victims of Christian clergy’s LUST
Editorial
The lust of the clergy is no longer new to the world. There have been reports of sexual abuse of women, children and nuns by the clergy in the United States and Europe for decades. Some incidents have come to light decades later. The Christian priests convicted in the cases have also been fined crores of Rupees. The Pope himself has apologised for these lecherous acts of the clergy.
How can the clergy in India remain untainted when so much has happened and is still happening all over the world ? Therefore, such incidents have happened in India too or the number of such incidents may be more than that have come to light so far.
However, the church’s role in dealing with the revelations has been to suppress these incidents. In the case of Franco Mulakkal, the former Bishop of Jalandhar, a nun in the church has accused Mulakkal of sexually abusing her several times. He has since been arrested. Instead of taking the nun’s side, the church has tried to figure out how to help Mulakkal. Attempts were also made to harass other nuns who had come out into the open to assist the victim. A criminal case is still pending in the Court. It remains to be seen what the outcome will be. If convicted, this may be the first case of clergy’s lust exposed in India.
Sister Abhaya’s murder case was not a crime of lust. Pastor Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sefi have been convicted of Sister Abhaya’s murder. In fact, this incident indirectly relates to lust. It was alleged that Sister Abhaya saw Pastor Futhrakayal, Pastor Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sefi in a compromising position one morning and so, they killed her and dumped her body in a well. The incident was made to look like a suicide.
The reason for murdering Sister Abhaya was solely that she had witnessed the lust of the clergy. This became clear after the Court verdict. Pastor Futhrakayal was acquitted.
For the past 28 years, some senior officials of the organisations related to the church and investigative agencies worked hard to suppress this case. However, they ultimately failed. This shows that not only the clergy, but also some nuns deviate from their original spiritual practice out of blind lust and go to a lower level than the common man. Not only this, the true nature of the church has been exposed before society. So far, the church in India was considered to be more cultured, civilized and a symbol of love and peace than the Hindu temples and Muslim mosques. However, this incident has exposed how hypocritical and bigotted the church is. It is hoped that the true nature of the church will now be realised by the Indians, and they will be able to save themselves from getting converted to Christianity by remaining alert about the propaganda of the missionaries.
Action should also be taken against those who support the guilty
It took 28 long years for Sister Abhaya’s murder case to reach its logical conclusion. It is better to be late than never.
On the morning of 27th March 1992, Sister Abhaya went to the kitchen of her hostel to fetch a glass of water and saw Pastor Futhrakayal, Pastor Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sefi in a compromising position. These three grabbed Abhaya and hit her on the head, knocking her unconscious. She was dragged in an unconscious state and thrown into a well in the hostel yard. Later, in trying to destroy evidence, it was suggested that Abhaya had committed suicide. Later the local Police, Crime Branch and CBI also declared that as per their investigation, the case was one of suicide. Then in 1993, the CBI said that it was not a case of suicide. However, this claim was ignored for the next 15 years. Inquiry was resumed after 67 nuns filed a petition in the Court seeking an inquiry into the murder case. This time, the Court too rapped the CBI on its knuckles. Subsequent inquiries revealed that it was indeed a case of murder, and charges were framed against the three. In 2018, Pastor Futhrakayal was acquitted and the other two were convicted.
The common man would never believe that such an act could be committed by the clergy. All the common people think that only political leaders, rich people try to suppress criminal acts, and often they succeed in it. Almost a similar thing happened in this murder case also; however, since God’s will was different, Abhaya’s murderers were finally exposed.
An attempt was made to destroy the evidence before the CBI was entrusted with the inquiry. The clothes Sister Abhaya was wearing at the time of death were not found. Initially, the cause of death in the autopsy report was ‘death due to drowning’. There was no mention of injuries on her body. Three witnesses in the case later turned hostile. As it turned out, it was like a film story. The church was expected to reveal the nature of the clergy in this case by presenting the truth to the community. If this had been done, respect for the church would have increased. However, now it seems that people look at the church with suspicion. The people also feel that the Court should now try to investigate those who tried to paint the case as suicide for so many years.
The silence of the media
It should also be noted that after 28 years, when the judgement was delivered in this case, the media did not give it the publicity it deserved. If anyone had complained against the Saints and Sages of Hindus, the media would have given it wide publicity; however, in this case the media is seen as hypocritical. News of this did not appear anywhere in the national media. No panel-discussions were organised.
If the topic were to be related to Hindus, the media would have organised numerous discussions. The Indian media also prefers to remain silent on the sexual abuse of the Christian clergy abroad. They blindly believe that such things do not happen at all.