Priest held for sexual abuse of minor girl
A Christian priest has been arrested on the charge of sexually harassing a minor of a rescue home for destitute girls at Nilambur in the neighbouring Malappuram district, police said here on Friday.
K G Joseph alias Habib (61), guardian of the destitute girls’ shelter “Balika Sadan,” was picked up by a special Crime Branch team on Thursday for allegedly outraging the modesty of the 14-year-old girl, a class IX student of Catholica Higher Secondary School in September last year, police said.
The arrest was made under Section 354 of the IPC on a complaint filed by parents of the girl hailing from Kelakam in Kannur district. However, Joseph, who was released on bail, denied the charges.
Meanwhile, police are also inquiring into the “unnatural” death of the girl’s elder sister, who succumbed to suspected food poisoning at the home in October last year.
