COIMBATORE: The Catholic Diocese to which priest Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul, accused of sexually abusing a minor girl in the US, is attached, is tight-lipped about the developments.
“We are yet to receive any such information. We can comment on this only after we get proper information,” maintained Diocese PRO Selvanathan, speaking to Express over phone. He also refused to comment on the stand of the diocese on the charges.
In January 2007, a case was filed against him in the Roseau County Courthouse, Minnesota. Four years later, the US officials sent an extradition note to the Ministry of External Affairs which in turn asked the Additional Chief Metroplital Magistrate of Patiala House Courts, Delhi, to inquire the request and decide on its ‘extraditability’ based on the nature of offences.
Based on a warrant issued by the Additional CMM, Jeyapaul was arrested from Erode district on March 16, 2012.
His bail pleas and the habeas corpus petition filed by his sister Pushpavathy in the Madras High Court alleging ‘illegal detention’ were rejected, and Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul was extradited by the Indian Government to the US.