Ranchi: The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) has protested against the arrest of a Jesuit priest on abetment charge in the alleged gang rape of five social workers in Jharkhand.

Jesuit Father Alphonse Aind has been falsely implicated for the abduction and gangrape of the social workers, asserted CBCI secretary-general Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas on August 24 at a press conference in Ranchi, capital of Jharkhand state.

Father Aind is the pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Kochang, a village in Khunti district, some 100 km south of Ranchi. He was arrested on June 23 on charges of not doing enough to prevent the abduction of gangrape and not informing the police even after the accused took the women away.

The incident occurred on June 19 when the social workers staged a street play at Stockman Memorial Middle School attached to the Kochang parish. A group of armed masked men barged in and took away four girls and a woman at gun point to a nearby jungle where they were subjected to gangrape and severe torture.

The survivors were members of an 11-member team from “Asha Kiran” (ray of hope), a rehabilitation center managed by Ursuline Sisters at Fudi, 20 km south of Ranchi. They came to Kochang to conduct nukkad (street play) on human trafficking and pathalgadi movement the parish on Father Aind’s invitation.

Police on June 21 first took into custody Father Aind, two nuns who brought the team to Kochang, and two teachers for interrogation. They were released a day `later, but the priest was arrested for abetment of the crime.

“If you have to arrest somebody, one or two charges are enough. But, when you slap nine articles (charges), it means that you don’t want the person come out on bail. There is a design behind this, but we don’t know what,” Bishop Mascarenhas told a press conference in the state capital of Ranchi on June 24. Cardinal Telesphore P. Toppo, outgoing archbishop of Ranchi, was also present at the press meet called to announced the appointment of the cardinal’s successor.

Bishop Mascarenhas said an internal inquiry had found nothing untoward in the role of the two sisters and the priest. “Two lawyers are helping them out. The CBCI has not intervened so far. If need be, we will consider that. But, it is largely a local matter,” he added.

On the same day, Jharkhand police chief D K Pandey held a meeting in Khunti, some 50 km south of Ranchi, and decided to set up a security camp in Kochang – a stronghold of Pathalgadi activists and Maoist rebels.

Kochang shares borders with West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan and lies in a Maoist-infested region where security forces hardly visit.

Pathalgadi is a practice adopted by several tribal villages in Jharkhand to declare their gram sabha (village council) as the sovereign authority, rejecting the authority of the federal or state government.

Huge stone plaques and signboards — called Pathal in the local dialect — have been erected outside tribal settlements in Khunti, Simdega, Gumla and West Singhbhum districts, with certain constitutional provisions favorable to the indigenous peoples’ rights inscribed upon them.

Kochang panchayat has witnessed a number of Pathalgadi agitations.

At Circuit House in Khunti, D G P Pandey chaired the meeting of senior officers. “We are serious about law and order in Kochang. We have discussed strategies to strengthen the same. A police camp has been planned,” ADG (operations) R.K. Mallick said after the meeting.

Mallick alleged a nexus between Pathalgadi activists and the Maoist rebels. “Six persons were involved in the gang-rape. Two are in net. Baji Samad, a notorious PLFI operative, is a suspect,” he said.

Another person named John Johnas Tidu, who is at the forefront of Pathalgadi, as the “prime instigator” of the gang rape. Tidu on June 24 told local reporters that police were maligning the tribal movement.

On the Pathalgadi movement, Bishop Mascarenhas said if an ancient tribal ritual was being used as a secessionist tool, it was the failure of the “official machinery.”

“Pathalgadi has been a tradition of tribals. But if somebody is misusing it, then it is the failure of the official machinery. People from the Church have gone to such areas where no government dared to enter. Our men contracted malaria and TB, but kept doing service. I don’t know what is so wrong about social service.”

He reiterated the Church’s commitment to safeguard land and other basic rights of tribals. “We are considered enemies because we are opposed to the move to amend tenancy and land acquisition laws,” the prelate added.

(Sources: telegraphindia.com, indianexpress.com)