Minorities' commission fights to return a priest his stripped dignity

The National Commission for Minorities has sought a 'fair inquiry' into the stripping of a Catholic priest by a mob and police officials in south Bihar's Dumka town on September 2.

The Commission had earlier deployed its vice-chairman Professor Bawa Singh and member Dr James Massey to probe the incident.

In its report, submitted to Union Home Minister Inderjit Gupta, the NCM said that Father Christudas, a diocesan priest, had joined St Joseph's school in Dumka as hostel superintendent some time ago. His strict enforcement of discipline had earned him the wrath of trouble-mongers.

He was allegedly beaten up and paraded naked all the way from the school to the town -- about eight kilometres -- by a mob. Later, he was stripped again in police custody after being charged for 'sexual abuse' of a class VII boy.

Contrary to the official claim, the boy had not mentioned 'sodomy' in his complaint before the district collector, the report said.

In an appeal to the Centre and the Bihar government, the Commission demanded the accused officers, including the district collector and sub-divisional magistrate, be removed from the district to facilitate a fair enquiry. It has also protested against 'official inaction.'

The incident generated considerable tension in the tribal-dominated Santhal region, leading to many attempts by right-wing parties to 'draw a wedge between the Christian organisations running schools and hospitals and the tribals who dominate the area,' the report said.

The Commission alleged the police arrested the priest, but took no action against the mob as the police force was 'inadequate.' It was 'strange' the police failed to identify the culprits even though local newspapers published photographs of the mob and the police. ''The administration did nothing to intervene,'' the report said.

The NCM had taken up the matter after it was approached by the Catholic Bishops Conference. ''There is an urgent need to restore citizens's confidence in the prevalence of secularism and the rule of law,'' its chairman Tahir Mahmood noted.

UNI