Priest gets bail after raid by Indian child rights panel
A court has granted bail to a Catholic priest four days after his arrest and detention in a central Indian state where child rights panels are on an inspection spree of Church-run schools and institutions to prevent alleged religious conversions.
Father R B Dionysius, principal of St. Mary’s School, in Morena district in Madhya Pradesh, ruled by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was released on March 28 after being held on multiple charges, including disturbing the peace and using criminal force against a public servant on duty.
People familiar with the development said the priest was framed in a false case to tarnish the image of the Catholic school in Gwalior diocese, and in a state where Christians make up a mere 0.29 percent of its 72 million population.
“Father Dionysius is traumatized,” said a fellow priest from the diocese who did not want to be named.
We are now helping him to recover, the priest added.
Dionysius was arrested on March 25 following a surprise raid on his residence within the school campus by government officials, under the leadership of Nivedita Sharma, a member of the state’s commission for the protection of child rights.
After the raid, Sharma told media people that the team seized liquor bottles, condoms, and religious objects.
It was part of a well-orchestrated strategy to defame the priest and the school, which enjoys a good reputation in the locality, the diocesan priest added.
“Nearly 1,800 students are studying at St. Mary’s School and not a single parent or student made a complaint,” the priest noted.
The diocesan priest said the state child rights panel and district officials were targeting only Christian schools in Gwalior, where former untouchables (Dalits) and tribal people make up 23 percent of its 6,098,000 population.
Madhya Pradesh, known for its economic backwardness and low literacy rate of 64.11 percent, has nearly 21.1 percent of its population coming from a tribal background.
Source: UCANews
