A Catholic church priest in Karnataka has been charged for attacking a boy after he failed to answer a bible quiz question during the first communion catechism class in Our Lady of Fatima Church, under Vittal police station limits, Dakshina Kannada district.
The accused priest is reportedly absconding. The incident, which occurred on 12 April, was registered as a case on 18 April.
According to the child’s parents, the parish priest Andrew D’Costa violently attacked the victim with a cane during the first communion catechism, as the child could not answer some of the Bible-related questions.
The parents, who are economically backward, filed a case against the priest after the child narrated the incident to them.
According to the Times of India (TOI), the police said that the priest has been booked under the Juvenile Justice Act and Indian Penal Code 324 at the Vittal police station.
Meanwhile, Rev Fr William Menezes, public relation officer of the Mangaluru Diocese, told TOI that the accused priest had admitted that he had reprimanded the boy, but denied assaulting him. Rev Aloysius Paul D’Souza, Bishop of Mangaluru, also urged the priest to cooperate with police investigation and meet the boy’s family.
