<p>The Supreme Court on Monday declined to grant anticipatory bail to two priests, accused of sexually abusing a married woman in the Kerala church sex scandal.</p>.<p>The court asked them to surrender before the police by August 13.</p>.<p>A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said the two priests can seek regular bail once they surrendered. The court also allowed a counsel for the victim to raise the issue of alleged uploading of a video by the accused on the internet before the trial court.</p>.<p>The crime branch of the Kerala Police had on July 2 registered a case against four priests on the basis of a statement given by a woman belonging to the same church who has accused them of sexually assaulting her on many occasions.</p>.<p>The four priests attached to the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church were accused of sexually abusing the 34-year-old woman by allegedly using her confessional statement.</p>.<p>While two of them surrendered, two others — Father Sony Verghese and Father Jaise K George approached the apex court for anticipatory bail after their plea was rejected by the Kerala High Court on July 11.</p>.<p>Senior advocate V Giri, appearing for Kerala police submitted a status report of investigation and said no interrogation has taken place so far of the two priests who were earlier granted protection from arrest by the apex court.</p>.<p>“We have granted protection from arrest to them but it does not mean that they can't be interrogated,” the bench said.</p>.<p>Senior advocate R Basant, appearing for the two priests, said the accused are willing to cooperate in the investigation and record their statements.</p>.<p>Counsel for the victim claimed that the accused priest had uploaded a video on the internet to blackmail the woman. The video contained some disparaging remarks against the victim, even when the investigation in the case was underway.</p>.<p>On this, Giri said, “If true, this is a very grave and serious issue.” Basant, however, said that he would ensure that these things do not happen again.</p>.<p>Giri claimed the damage has already been done.</p>
<p>The Supreme Court on Monday declined to grant anticipatory bail to two priests, accused of sexually abusing a married woman in the Kerala church sex scandal.</p>.<p>The court asked them to surrender before the police by August 13.</p>.<p>A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said the two priests can seek regular bail once they surrendered. The court also allowed a counsel for the victim to raise the issue of alleged uploading of a video by the accused on the internet before the trial court.</p>.<p>The crime branch of the Kerala Police had on July 2 registered a case against four priests on the basis of a statement given by a woman belonging to the same church who has accused them of sexually assaulting her on many occasions.</p>.<p>The four priests attached to the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church were accused of sexually abusing the 34-year-old woman by allegedly using her confessional statement.</p>.<p>While two of them surrendered, two others — Father Sony Verghese and Father Jaise K George approached the apex court for anticipatory bail after their plea was rejected by the Kerala High Court on July 11.</p>.<p>Senior advocate V Giri, appearing for Kerala police submitted a status report of investigation and said no interrogation has taken place so far of the two priests who were earlier granted protection from arrest by the apex court.</p>.<p>“We have granted protection from arrest to them but it does not mean that they can't be interrogated,” the bench said.</p>.<p>Senior advocate R Basant, appearing for the two priests, said the accused are willing to cooperate in the investigation and record their statements.</p>.<p>Counsel for the victim claimed that the accused priest had uploaded a video on the internet to blackmail the woman. The video contained some disparaging remarks against the victim, even when the investigation in the case was underway.</p>.<p>On this, Giri said, “If true, this is a very grave and serious issue.” Basant, however, said that he would ensure that these things do not happen again.</p>.<p>Giri claimed the damage has already been done.</p>