TURA, March 17 - A priest from Kerala, identified as Father Biju Joseph, has been arrested by North Garo Hills (NGH) police on allegations of molesting a woman in a night bus while returning from Shillong.
Incidentally, after the victim raised an alarm, passengers of the night bus caught hold of the priest and roughed him up.
As the incident took place in Assam, the passengers waited until they reached Meghalaya before handing him over to the police at Bajengdoba, on Friday.
The accused priest belonged to the Guwahati Provincial of the Missionaries of St Francis De Sales (MSFS) congregation. He was currently based at SFS School in Nangalbibra while serving as a priest at Sumonpara Parish in South Garo Hills (SGH) district.
According to the complaint filed by the passengers, the accused was coming from Shillong to Tura by a night bus on Friday night when he allegedly tried to hold the hand of a female fellow passenger seated next to him. The incident allegedly took place after the bus left Paikan a little after midnight.
The victim was a 27 year-old woman working in the Health department. She raised an alarm after which fellow passengers came to her rescue. The angry passengers assaulted the accused for the incident before he was handed over to police in North Garo Hills.
