The Kerala High Court lowered Roman Catholic priest Robin Vadakkumchery's prison sentence in the Kottiyoor rape case from 20 years to 10 years by changing the charges from Section 376 (2) to Section 376(1).
In the matter of raping and impregnating a minor, the Court decreased the fine from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 1 lakh.
After a judge found him guilty in February 2019, he was sentenced to twenty years in prison.
Facts: Vadakkumchery worked as a priest in a parish where the girl came from a Catholic home. In May 2016, the girl, who had just finished her Class 10 exams at the time, went to Vadakkumchery's parsonage for some parish data-entry job. When the other girls were gone for the afternoon, the priest took the girl to his room and raped her. He allowed her go home after instructing her not to tell anyone about the incident. To her family, the girl remained silent.
She became pregnant later on, but no one seemed to notice. The girl suffered significant abdominal pain on February 7, 2017, and was transported to a nearby hospital, which referred her to Christu Raja Hospital, Koothuparamba, Kannur district, which is administered by nuns of the Sacred Heart Congregation. The girl was discovered to be pregnant during the examination, and she gave birth as a result. She told her mother about the event at the parsonage, and the family took it up with Vadakkumchery, who volunteered to cover the Rs 30,000 medical bill.