Catholic priest gets bail after 20 days in prison
The court concluded that 'nothing was found on record' to punish the priest for unlawfully running a children's home
A Catholic priest, detained on charges of violating child rights in central India, has been released on bail 20 days after he was arrested, which Church leaders say is part of a state-sponsored anti-Christian campaign. Father Anil Mathew, a member of the Carmelite of Mary Immaculate (CMI) congregation, working in Madhya Pradesh state was released on Jan. 28. He was arrested on Jan. 7 and was remanded in prison.
Father Cyril Kuttianickal, Mathew’s local superior based in the state capital Bhopal, said Mathew was released from jail after a local court granted him bail and Father Mathew was not “willing to talk to media,” Kuttianickal told News on Jan. 29.
Father Mathew, director of Anchal Girls' Hostel in Bhopal was arrested on charges of violating provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, unlawfully running a children's home, and engaging in conversion attempts. Father Mathew’s lawyer told the court that “no case is made out" under the Juvenile Justice Act as the hostel he directs is “not a juvenile home” defined under the act, Kuttianickal said in a statement.
Mathew runs a girl’s hostel, not a children's home, and the girls staying there “have their biological parents alive." "All the girls were admitted in the girls' hostel upon the written request of their parents,” the statement said.
The hostel is registered with the school education department as per the legal requirement, the lawyer told the court. Mathew’s lawyer also told the court that a conversion attempt case will not stand against his client as the law asks not to entertain third-party complaints on conversion.
