TURA, March 20 - The Church taking cognisance of reports in the media of molestation charges against a priest, has suspended the accused from all priestly ministries.
The letter of suspension was signed by the Bishop of Tura, Rt Rev Andrew R Marak who added that the Church did not nay such acts by the priests. The Bishop also sought wide circulation of the order in an effort to ensure that there were no flare ups in the community.
The letter stated that the priest, who is now in judicial custody, was suspended pending investigation into the molestation case. He was suspended by the Provincial Superior of MSFS Congregation.
Interestingly, the accused priest had submitted to the police one of many IDs he carried. The matter came to light through the letter of the Bishop which put his name as Abraham Ponvilel (MSFS) and not Biju Joseph as given to the police and media.
The accused was a priest of the Somonpara Parish in South Garo Hills and hailed from Kerala.
On March 16, the accused priest got on a night bus from near Guwahati and allegedly tried to hold the hand of a female passenger seated next to him. The incident allegedly took place after the bus left Paikan in Goalpara, a little after midnight.
The incident led to the priest being manhandled by passengers who later handed him over to the police at Bajengdoba PS in North Garo Hills.
Following the incident, the 27 year-old victim was subjected to mental torture after some miscreants on social media began to call her names and tried to shame her, allegedly for naming the priest. A FIR was filed at the Tura PS, against the harassment. Police are now on the lookout for those involved in shaming her.
