By Matters India Reporter
Kochi, May 5, 2020: A court in Kerala has sentenced a former sacristan to life for killing the rector of a famous Christian pilgrim center in the southern Indian state.
“The sacristan is sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life for the offence punishable under section 302 of IPC and has to pay a fine of (100,000 rupees),” Ernakulam Principal Sessions and District Judge Kauser Edappagath said in the May 4 order. If the sacristan fails to pay the fine amount, he has to suffer simple imprisonment for one year, the court added.
Johnny Vattaparampil, the sacristan of St Thomas Mount at Malayattoor in Ernakulam district, was convicted for stabbing to death Father Xavier Thelakkat, the shrine’s rector, on March 1, 2018.
The priest, who was 52 at the time of his death, was climbing the mount with the sexton when the two started a heated argument. After stabbing the priest, the sexton escaped into forest surrounding the pilgrimage site.
The priest, who suffered injuries on his left thigh, had died as he was taken to the Little Flower Hospital in nearby Angamaly town.
Police nabbed Vattaparampil from a forest near the church, a day after the crime. When caught, Vattaparampil was in a weak condition and pleaded for drinking water and food, police said. The man told the police that he had tried to commit suicide, but failed.
Vattaparampil worked as sexton for 37 years. The priest sacked him for allegedly coming drunk to duty. The sexton, who was reportedly upset with the priest, used to press him for reinstatement.
Malayattoor is some 50 km northeast of Kochi, the commercial capital of Kerala.
Christians in Kerala who trace their faith to St Thomas the Apostle believe the saint had visited the Kurisumudy after landing at Kodungalloor, an ancient town, in AD 52.
The place draws thousands of pilgrims who come to climb the hilltop shrine praying the Way of the Cross during the lent season. The priest was stabbed at the sixth station of the way of cross.
The verdict comes in the backdrop the priest’s family setting a rare gesture of Christian forgiveness soon after the murder.
On March 4, 2018, the priest’s mother Thressia Thelakkat visited the killer’s family to pardon him.
“I forgive him,” she told media persons after comforting Vattaparampil’s wife Annie and family members. Pictures of the elderly woman comforting Vattaparampil’s wife had gone viral on social media. The visit took place after Vattaparampil’s family was isolated and lived in misery and dejection.
The mother’s visit came a day after Cardinal George Alencherry, head of the Syro-Malabar Church, pardoned Vattaparampil. The cardinal had led the priest’s funeral in Cheranalloor East parish of Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese.