A Kerala-origin priest from Canada has been booked for sexual assault of a woman devotee in his parish. The accused has been identified as Tony Devasia. The 33-year-old is a priest at a South London Catholic Church in Ontario.
According to reports, Toby was arrested on Thursday. His first court appearance is slated for June 24.
According to the complaint, an elderly woman devotee had spoken to Devasia at the church. When she was leaving, he allegedly touched her inappropriately, according to reports.
Toby Devasia entered priesthood five years ago and had been working at the church in King Edward Avenue for the past one year. According to the church’s Facebook page, the church is the first Syro-Malabar religious institution in Canada.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church originated in Kerala and has millions of followers worldwide.
In Kerala, the trial in the Bishop Franco Mulakkal rape case began on Friday. The bishop appeared before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Pala where a copy of the 2000-page chargesheet was handed to him.
The court also heard a plea seeking to extend his bail and agreed to do so. The matter has been posted for further hearing on June 7.
Bishop Franco Mulakkal is accused of raping a nun from the Missionaries of Jesus convent at Kuruvilangad in Kottayam, 13 times between 2014 and 2016. He also attempted to threaten the nun to remain silent. Following a hunger strike by five nuns from the Kuruvilangad convent, the bishop was finally arrested in September 2018.
It was only seven months after his arrest, in April 2019, that the chargesheet of Bishop Franco, who heads the Jalandhar diocese of Missionaries of Jesus, was submitted. The document was submitted before the Pala Sessions court in April.