Pastor Father Lawrence has been handed a life imprisonment sentence by a POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) court in Mumbai for the horrific crime of sodomizing a 13-year-old inside Govandi’s Christ the King Church. The incident dates back to the year 2015 when the minor was subject to multiple instances of sexual assaults leaving him scarred and bleeding. The victim continues to suffer from hallucinations and nightmares following the assault and is still under treatment.
According to reports in his statement to the police, the victim has stated that on November 27, 2015, he had visited the Church along with his brother. After prayers, the Pastor asked him to put away the box and when the minor entered the room to keep the box, the Pastor shut the door and sexually assaulted the boy. The victim further alleged that this was the second time that he had been assaulted by the accused.
The victim’s mother while expressing satisfaction with the POCSO court verdict has added that though she has faith in Jesus, she doesn’t trust the Church and authorities who run it because the family had to face opposition from supporters of Father Lawerence who tried to silence them when they had approached the police.
The family was accused of siphoning off Church funds and was subject to harassment by the Church to such an extent that they were even forced to shift their place of residence. A family’s quest for justice for their child who had been scarred for life due to the horrific crime earned them the ire of the Church. The media is also guilty of brushing such incidents under the carpet only because the accused is a Christian.
Sexual abuse, of both women and children, is rampant in Churches not just in Bharat but across the world. However, Church is flushed with funds that help it hush up the matter, and a pliable media, particularly in Bharat, makes its job easier. Media complicity is evident from the fact that news about sexual abuses in Church never makes it to the headlines.
In November this year, a Pastor from Andhra Pradesh was taken into custody for sexual abuse of two girls belonging to scheduled castes. In 2019, Pastor Aruldoss was given a life term for raping minor girls. The Pastor and his accomplices were accused of kidnapping two girls studying in Class 8 and 9, raping, and subsequently selling them into prostitution. The Tamil Nadu CB-CID arrested 17 persons including Aruldoss in this case.
Syro-Malabar Church priest Father Robin Vadukkuncheril was sentenced to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment for raping a minor following which he was dismissed from the priesthood. Nuns had attempted to defend the Padre by pressurizing the victim’s poor father. In fact, the father was pressurized to such an extent that he ‘accepted’ to having raped his daughter. Police investigations, however, revealed that it was the Padre who had raped the girl.
As is evident from multiple instances, the Church always attempts to hush up the matter whenever one of its own is accused by pressurizing the victims and their families. The complicity of the Bharatiya media only helps the Church in covering up the heinous crimes of its members. Islamo-leftists conveniently bury their heads in the sand and never feel the need to come out in support of such victims who dare to raise their voice against Padres/Pastors/Maulvis.
