SURVIVOR OF THE KOTTIYOOR RAPE CASE MOVE TO THE TOP COURT EXPRESSED HER WILLINGNESS TO MARRY POCSO CONVICT

The survivor of the Kottiyoor rape case in an application before the Top Court expressed her willingness to marry 56-year-old Robin Vadakumchery, a former Catholic Priest who was sentenced to 20 years under the POCSO Act for raping and impregnating the survivor while she was a minor.

After an unfortunate incident, the victim gave birth to a girl child in February 2017. During the trial of the case, Robin argued that the child belonged to the father of the victim. However,  the DNA test clearly attributed paternity to Robin, which resulted in his conviction.

Last year Robin moved to Kerala HC seeking suspension of his sentence in order to marry the survivor. He claimed in the application that consensual sex took place between the two, but the survivor was then a minor aged 16 years. And now that he had been dispensed from his duties as a priest, he is eligible to marry the survivor who had by then attained the marriageable age. This February, Justice Sunil Thomas dismissed the application stating that the judicial system cannot approve it when the findings of the trial show that a minor was raped. Robin approached the Supreme Court through a special leave petition, in which the survivor filed the present application.

The woman, in her plea, stated that her child is at school-going age and hence requires the father's name to fill the school admission form. Hence, she supported Vadakumchery's application for suspension of sentence.

The matter will be next heard on 2nd August by Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Vineet Saran.

Author: Papiha Ghoshal