Thiruvananthapuram:
The family of a woman from Suryanelli in Kerala who was abducted and raped by 42 men almost two decades ago has alleged that the church where they pray has asked them to stay away.
"The Catholic church is for the poor. We will open our church anytime they (the victim's family) wish to come. Reports that say otherwise are wrong," Xavier Mammootil, parish vicar of the St Francis Xavier's Church, said to the Indo-Asian News Service.
The rape survivor's mother said in an interview to a local channel that "The church authorities told us that the case (scandal) is attracting media attention and till everything subsides, we should keep away from the church. "
Her husband, who has a heart ailment, says he would change three buses to get to church but never skipped a single Sunday visit.
The woman who was kidnapped and raped when she was a schoolgirl does not go to church. She only leaves home to go to work.
For her parents, the church was the one place that they drew solace and emotional sustenance. Since her case was reported to the police, they have moved twice because they say they were insulted by neighbours.
The Suryanelli rape survivor has said that among the 42 men who raped her was Congress leader PJ Kurien. He was exonerated by the Supreme Court in 2007.
The woman says his political influence helped Mr Kurien, the Deputy Chair of the Rajya Sabha, to escape a thorough police enquiry. She has been asking for him to be tried for rape since January, when the Supreme Court asked the Kerala High Court to try 35 men for her rape and deliver a verdict within six months.
34 of those men were acquitted by the Kerala High Court in 2005. The Supreme Court has set aside that order.