NCW Proposes To Abolish Confessions In Church Following Rape Involving Priest
Following a case in Kerala where a woman committed suicide after her confessions in a church were leaked by a priest, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has come out and said that confessions in church should be abolished, reports The Hindu. The suicide, that took place three years ago recently came to the limelight amid other cases involving the church and sexual abuse.
The priests pressure women into telling their secrets and we have one such case in front of us, there must be many more such cases and what we have right now is just a tip of the iceberg. The priests pressure women into telling their secrets and we have one such case in front of us, there must be many more such cases and what we have right now is just a tip of the iceberg.NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma
The NCW’s recommendations come in the backdrop of another case where four priests of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church were reported to have sexually exploited a married woman after her confessions. The body has set up an inquiry committee to look into the matter and has sent its findings to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
However, the move has met with stiff opposition from the Kerala Catholic Bishop Council (KCBC) who have claimed that it would violate the freedom of religion granted by the Constitution.
The KCBC’s statement got support from Union Minister for State K J Alphons, the Christian face of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the party’s face in Kerala. He termed Sharma’s arguments as her personal opinion.