I happen to know the Uncle of the girl who was allegedly molested by the accused Priest. I know him for the last more than a decade. He is an Executive Committee Member of our Badminton club and is also one of the most active citizens from the Ribander area. He comes regularly to play at the Indoor Stadium at Campal. He is honest, sincere and a good natured person who is friendly to all. All others who know him personally will also testify this. He is also actively involved in a lot of social and community programmes in his locality and there is no reason for me to believe that he has had any kind of an ulterior motive to file a false complaint of such a nature against the accused Priest.
When this sad incident of molestation allegedly occurred, my friend did his level best to try and get due justice to his 10 year old niece who was in a shocked condition then. He ran from pillar to post but none of the concerned authorities (the Government, the Police, etc) were willing to take action against the accused. The entire legal system which is supposed to treat all as “equals before the law” just refused to work. Perhaps they may have received orders not to act from their higher ups. The Priest, who is just as human as the rest of us, was thus treated like a God who could not be touched. During this period, all kinds of pulls and pressures were exerted on my friend and his family, urging them to withdraw the molestation complaint. After going through several rounds of this physical and emotional harassment, fighting against a system that was refusing to pay heed to their complaints, the family were left with no option but to withdraw the charges. These are the basic facts of the case as I understand them. It is sad that we now get to hear words of divinity being attached to this Priest. This case is not an isolated incident. There are several cases like these, where the men in the religious garbs (belonging to all religions) have broken the laws, have indulged in criminal acts, but the law has simply refused to act against them. Just because someone is associated in the profession of Religion does not make one divine. And it is high time we understand that. regards, Sandeep ------------------------------------ Dr Ferdinando wrote: a: When a police case is filed by a complainant and the accused are chargesheeted in a State filed criminal case, all accused have to appear in the Court immaterial of whether the case is taken up or postponed for any other reasons. In this case 15 people had to come and waste their day in Court for every hearing. The complainant need come only when required to testify as witness. b: the Church premises is a public place and parishioners are definitely not trespassers, even if they come to protest. If there was a crime committed, only then could it be called a trespass. c: If there was a complaint of assault; jc as a doctor should know that it would be a medico-legal case. Was there any medical report of assault? Was any government doctor brought in as prosecution witness to testify assault? JC, in India they still follow British legal system; what Legal system do they follow in Barbados where you claim to have done Law? Do they have legal procedures? Or is there just a ?Chieftain? who passes all judgments like you do?
