Sunday, November 9, 2008

Another nun row rocks Kerala church9

Nov 2008, 0440 hrs IST, Ananthakrishnan G , TNN

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A church in Kerala is in the throes of yet another scandal even as controversy over the death of sister Abhaya is yet to settle. Relatives of a Catholic nun have alleged that she is being forcibly kept in mental hospitals to prevent her from revealing the alleged 'sexual misdemeanours' in the convent. But the convent denies the charge and insists that she is a psychiatric case.

Sixty-year-old Treesa Thomas, who was attached to the Divine Mary Convent at Anchal in Kollam district, was admitted to a hospital run by the Church in Thodupuzha in October. "About two weeks back, she was shifted to the government mental asylum in Thiruvananthapuram," the nun's sister-in-law Tresyamma told TOI over phone from Kottayam.

The mater came to light after the nun's nephew Benny filed a complaint with the Kerala Women's Commission. Benny alleged Thomas, who has been a nun for the last 43 years, was forcibly admitted to the hospital to prevent her from spilling the beans on "illicit affairs between priests and sisters" and to make her statements look silly. It also claimed that a nun, who was unable to bear the torment, had ended her life in the convent sometime back.

Benny lives in Ireland and had come home in connection with the baptism of his kid which is when the family got the wind of the matter and decided to take it up with the authorities. Following the complaint, commission member P K Sainaba visited the nun and recorded her statement.
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