KANNUR: A priest in Kerala is being charged with sexual abuse after a 16-year-old girl delivered a baby in a private hospital at Kottiyoor in Kannur.
Police said the girl is a Class XI student of a school at Kottiyoor and a resident of Neendunooki in Kottiyoor. The baby was born on Sunday. Tipped off about the birth, Child Line officials informed the police, who found clues indicating that she had been raped by her father. The father was taken into custody and questioned for the crime, but he alleged that it was Vadakkancheril Mathew (Robin), a priest at the Kottiyoor St Sebastian Church, who committed the crime.
The girl’s house is near the church and the priest might have become acquainted with the girl, police added. A case has been filed under Section 376 and the Prevention of Child Sexual Offences Act. Police are searching for the priest, who is believed to have fled to Ernakulam.