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The families of the five Mangaluru boys who accused their parish priest Cyprian Pinto of sexual abuse are allegedly under tremendous pressure to not pursue the case. According to community members, Cyprian’s supporters have tried to coerce the families, and certain clergy members have attempted to subtly direct blame at the survivors, accusing the five boys of making “false allegations” and “dividing” the church.
Father Cyprian Pinto, who was the parish priest at St Vincent Ferrer Church in Valencia, Mangaluru, faces accusations of sexually assaulting at least five boys. Following a complaint by one boy, he was booked under sections 8 and 10 (sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and section 75(2) (sexual harassment) of the BNS.
He was arrested on October 17 and obtained bail on October 29.
Activists and community members have alleged a systemic attempt to shield Cyprian even before the FIR was filed on October 15.
Wilfy (name changed), a member of St Vincent, was part of a delegation of community members who met Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy on October 30 and filed a complaint accusing the church’s vice president, Ronald Rodrigues, of intimidating the boys and their families.
“I have been told that the vice president has intimidated the children’s parents. He has scared them by saying that they will be called repeatedly by the police, that they’ll have to go to court, that their children’s studies will be affected, that their children’s identities will be exposed in the media …” Wilfy alleged to TNM.
“Knowing very well that the boy’s family is not well off, Ronald Rodrigues called the boy’s mother on October 15 and pressured her not to file the complaint,” the complaint reads. Wilfy was referring to the boy whose complaint led to an FIR being filed on the same day.
Misusing the pulpit?
Mangaluru-based activist Robert Rosario also alleged that attempts are being made to turn the community’s opinion against the survivors and that a section of priests have tried to meet the mother of the boy who filed the complaint. Robert has emailed the Mangalore Bishop regarding these developments.
Robert told TNM that a flyer containing a “special prayer” urging people to pray for Father Cyprian and the Bishop is being circulated on WhatsApp.
Making no mention of the children who have allegedly been abused, the flyer’s text subtly directs blame at the survivors for “allegations and uncertainty” while asking God to “protect our church from division and misunderstanding”. It also asks people to “share this prayer, not rumours”.
Further, some priests have used similar language in church. Jerry, a member of the St Lawrence Church in Mangaluru’s Bondel, told TNM that during the Sunday mass on October 25, the priest Father Peter Gonsalves came out in support of Cyprian without directly naming the accused priest.
According to Jerry, Father Peter told congregation members, “The people who have raised the issue of the priest and are discussing it on social media are Catholics. They are not people from other faiths. Our own people have crucified the priest. We should all stand with the priest at this moment and pray for his acquittal.”
A Catholic priest in Mangaluru who requested anonymity said that it was unacceptable to use the pulpit for such purposes.
“Using prayers to support an accused person, priest or otherwise, is like forcing God to be an unwilling accomplice. To use the pulpit for anything other than the word of God is an abomination,” the priest said.
He said that priests must not lose sight of either the law or the larger public good when discharging their religious duties. “It is both a sin and a crime to influence public opinion from the pulpit against accountability for the alleged abuse or attempting to save the alleged perpetrator. The pulpit may be prudently used to highlight matters that are in the interest of the larger community or society in general.”
He added that priests are advised against such conduct from the time they begin their training in seminaries and that reminders are repeatedly issued in both formal and informal settings.
“Time and again we are told not to use the pulpit to create such an atmosphere of fear and shame. If the priest has done it, and the content and proof are available, he has to be taken to task,” he also said.
Complaint to the Karnataka HC
Activist Stanly KV of the Mysuru-based Odanadi Seva Samsthe has written to the Karnataka High Court’s Juvenile Justice Committee alleging that the families of the victims are being intimidated.
“In a recent development, it has come to light that a group attempted to intimidate four other children who were prepared to file complaints, causing both the children and their parents to hesitate. Furthermore, we have received information that the police took the other victimised children directly for questioning—without first referring them to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) for counselling—which has led the victims to become reluctant to provide statements regarding the abuse they suffered,” the complaint says.
The office of the HC’s JJ Committee confirmed that they had received Odanadi Samsthe’s complaint. TNM has emailed the committee seeking a response on the action taken on that complaint. This story will be updated if they respond.
Stanly has also asked that committee direct the Mangaluru police to book Bishop Peter Paul Saldanha, Ronald Rodrigues and their associates for allegedly intimidating the survivors and their families.
TNM had previously reported that the Mangaluru Bishop Peter Paul Saldanha was informed about the alleged abuse and that he had met the five boys and their parents on August 17. The five children each wrote a letter, signed by their parents, to the Bishop, detailing the alleged abuse.
Though the Bishop constituted an internal inquiry, the Bishop’s office did not immediately report the alleged sexual abuse to the authorities. Failing to report sex abuse is punishable under the POCSO Act by six months imprisonment and/or a fine, or both. In a statement, the Bishop’s office previously said that they cannot comment on specific questions as a police investigation is underway.
TNM has emailed the Bishop’s public relations officer, Ronald Castellino, regarding clergy members’ attempts to defend Cyprian. This story will be updated if he responds.