BY LEO FERNANDO
CHENNAI: A Jesuit priest who was accused of rape by a former nun received anticipatory bail on Wednesday.
The Madras High Court granted Jesuit Father Rathinam Rajarathnam anticipatory bail and ordered him to surrender to the police on or before Nov. 8 for further investigation.
Major newspapers in Tamil Nadu reported the case after the nun made the allegations.
On Oct. 12, Florence Mary, 31, a former member of St. Anne’s congregation in Tiruchirapalli, accused the Jesuit of raping her in 2006 and later in 2008 and continuous intimidation.
She filed a complaint in the all women’s police station, which specializes in crimes against women.
The Jesuit priest was the principal of 165–year-old St. Joseph’s College, Tiruchirapalli when the former nun accused him.
However the Jesuit denied any wrongdoing and has been relieved from his administrative duties.
Along with the Jesuit principal, Madurai Jesuit provincial Father Mudiappasamy Devadoss, and its legal advisor Father Joe Xavier and another employee of the province were granted bail. The nun had accused them of criminal intimidation.
Auxillia Peter, a Catholic lawyer, said, the Jesuits were charged with criminal intimidation after they tried to mediate with the nun and her family “which were not accordance with the canon law or established legal procedures.”
Mediation is usually done in such cases, but that should be done according to the law of the land, she told ucanews.com on Nov. 4.
Earlier, on Oct. 26, the provincial wrote an explanatory letter on the matter to all the bishops, major provincials in the state of Tamil Nadu. The letter highlighted several inconsistencies in the nun’s allegation.