Kerala rape convict priest's plea to marry survivor

The case dates back to 2016 when Father Robin Vadakkumchery was posted as the vicar of St.
Sebastian Parish in Kottiyoor, which was attached to the Catholic Diocese of Mananthavady
(Wayanad) in Kannur. He also served as the manager of a school in Kottiyoor, run by the same
parish. It was at this school where the victim, who was a student, came in contact with him. He
raped her several times over the year and then impregnated her. The case came to light when the
victim delivered a baby on 7 February 2017 at the Christu Raj Hospital in Koothuparamba,
Kannur, run by the parish with whom Father Vadakkumchery was friendly to. This case which
was fought for three years saw several twists, including the victim claiming that her biological
father was the rapist, and that she wanted to set up a family with the priest.

Robin Vadakkumchery was arrested on February 27, 2017 from near the Kochi International
Airport while he was preparing to slip out of the country. He was tried under the Protection of
Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Later in February 2019, a government doctor’s
statement that established that the victim was a minor, which meant any sexual relations with her
amounted to rape, sealed Vadakkumchery’s fate as he was imprisoned under the Thalassery
POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) court which sentenced priest Robin to 60
years’ rigorous imprisonment under different sections for the 2016 rape each 20 years on three
different charges. Later, the court eventually brought his jail term to 20 years allowing him to
serve on all of the three separate counts together.

A new development on the case began on July 2020 as the 54-year-old rape convict Robin
Vadakkurmchery’s has moved the Kerala High Court with a bizarre plea which mentions that he
wants to marry the girl, who is now in her 20s pursuing studies outside Kerala and also take care
of the child born to her. He also sought two month-bail to prepare for the wedding. Robin & the
victim have jointly filed a plea for the marriage. The High Court has sought a police report in
this regard. The case will be heard on Friday, July 24, 2020.

Marry-your-rapist laws have existed in many middle-east countries such as Algeria, Iraq,

Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan and Tunisia where people advocated for rape-marriage as it
would save the survivor and her family from stigma of rape. There is also the assumption that no
one else would be willing to marry a rape survivor.  Similar cases in the past in India have
occurred, where rapists have got or sought bail on the condition of marrying the survivor like the
June 2015 Madaras High Court Bail for the accused or the case in 2015 where a rape victim
married her rapist in Odisha. In this case the Kerala state has filed an objection stating that in
such cases the accused cannot marry the victim since there is a threat to the life of the victim.
And if this is adopted in all the cases as a standard then the state cannot check the veracity and
genuineness in each and every case. In every rape case, the accused will say he/she wants to be
released so that he/she can marry the survivor. And thereafter if they are married, the state cannot
ensure that the victim is safe. As far as the state is concerned, that is the primary concern, the
safety of the survivor. Hence, the state has taken a strong stand that this cannot be allowed