Kottayam man cleared after seven years as false harassment allegation unravels
KOTTAYAM: Easter is a celebration of life over death, light over darkness, truth over falsehood, joy over pain. For C D Jomon, a 48-year-old paramedical teacher from Madhuraveli in Kottayam, this Easter will also mark a fresh lease of life -- past the sufferings and torments that he has had to endure.
After nearly seven years of torment, under the cloud of a sexual-harassment allegation, the “victim” finally came forward to confess that the charge had been fabricated -- orchestrated by a friend. Through his years of hardship, Jomon found solace in faith and the Bible, especially one verse: “When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth ... (John 16:13)”.
On a December night in 2017, Jomon’s life took a devastating turn when police officers from Kaduthuruthy station arrived at his home and detained him. Jomon, who was running a paramedical institute at Kuruppanthara, was totally blindsided by the development. At the station, officers interrogated him regarding the sexual-abuse complaint filed by a former student.“Officers came to my home while my family and I were having dinner. They handcuffed me in front of my wife and our two infants, and forced me to walk through the streets for an offence I had not committed,” recounts Jomon.
Though he was released later that night, Jomon was re-arrested a couple of days later and remanded in judicial custody. After spending a month in prison, he was granted bail. Police continuously raided the institute and sealed it over allegations of sexual abuse against him.
The gravity of the situation became apparent when police submitted a chargesheet six months later accusing him of raping the student on a train in 2016. The prosecution argued that Jomon committed rape at his institute and thereafter in the S7 compartment of Mangala Express on June 30, 2016.
“This January, however, the complainant confided in her classmates that she had made the allegations at the behest of her boyfriend. Acting on the advice of her friends, she appeared in court on January 31 and admitted that the case was false. The court proceeded to exonerate me,” Jomon said.
She also agreed to confess to her actions at Jomon’s home parish in Madhuraveli. Three weeks back, during a retreat at the St Alphonsa Syro-Malabar Church, she rendered a public apology to Jomon. “In fact, the girl was deceived by her boyfriend, who convinced her to sign a blank paper. He concocted the accusations, wrote them down on the paper, which was submitted to the police. Before approaching police, he attempted to extort money from me. I refused to comply,” he said.
Jomon said that although he knows all the persons behind the conspiracy he has chosen to forgive them, echoing the words in Colossians 3:13, “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”