By Matters India Reporter
Guwahati, June 9, 2019: A 68-year-old priest’s alleged suicide has brought pain and anguish to a Salesian province in India.
“The Salesian province of Mary Help of Christians, Guwahati, Assam, India, deeply mourns the passing away of Fr Jose Thiruthany, (TO), SDB, at 5:30 am on 7 June, 2019, at Dotma,” says a note from Father Januarius S Sangma, the provincial.
Fr Thiruthany was the pastor of Dotma parish under Bongaigaon diocese in Assam.
The funeral Mass was held at 3 pm on June 8 at St. Joseph’s Co-Cathedral Parish, Panbazar, Guwahati, followed by burial at the Christian Cemetery, Uzanbazar, in the same city.
Father Sangma’s note to his confreres and friends of Salesians said Father Thiruthany was found dead in the premises of the Dotma parish. “We are shaken up with this sudden death of our dear Father T O Jose,” he added.
Sources in Guwahati told Matters India that the priest allegedly hanged from a fan hook in the room adjacent to the altar. Autopsy was on June 7.
The funeral Mass was led by Archbishops John Moolachira of Guwahati and Dominic Jala of Shillong, who was a batchmate of the deceased priest.
Father Thiruthany was the vicar general of Bongaigaon.
“What were the circumstances or compulsions for such a senior priest to take this extreme and painful step?” the sources asked. The priest had contributed immensely to the missions and was deeply loved and appreciated by people, the sources added.
Father Thiruthany was born on December 8, 1949, at Manjapra in the Ernakulam district of Kerala. He joined the Salesians in 1969 at Shillong and was ordained a priest on December 16, 1978, at his home parish.