Do away with confession practice, says NWC after Kerala church rapes
New Delhi, July 26 (IBNS): Submitting its report on the Kerala church sex scandals, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has recommended that the government should abolish the practice of confession in churches as it may lead to blackmailing women and threaten their safety and security, media reports said.
NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma said the commission has sought a probe by a central agency into the two Church sex scandals in Kerala that surfaced last month. One of the scandals involved four priests of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the second one the Bishop of Jalandhar, Franco Mulakka, in rape.
“We have recommended a probe by a central agency into these scandals because such incidents are on a rise in Kerala. An investigative agency should probe into these matters. They should go deep into it to see how many churches are involved in these incidents,” Sharma said.
The commission which has prepared a report on the scandals after meeting the victims is sending it to the Home Ministry and copies of it to Kerala and Punjab governments.
“We have recommended that confession should be abolished from the church. It is being misused by the priests. Many women are suffering. Women cannot share their private life with priests,” Sharma told The Indian Express.
The Bishop of Jalandhar was accused by a nun in Kottayam district of Kerala of raping her on several occasions between 2014 and 2016. The nun filed a complaint with the police on June 27.
In another incident, four priests of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church have been accused of sexually exploiting a married woman allegedly by blackmailing her making use of the secret confession she made to them on separate occasions.
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