Priest, facing sexual abuse charges, taken to Delhi

COIMBATORE: A catholic priest, who was arrested on Friday night at Erode on charges of sexually abusing two minor girls in the US, will be produced before the additional chief metropolitan magistrate at Patiala House in New Delhi on Sunday.

The priest, J Jayapaul alias Joseph Palanivel, 57, of Ariyalur, is accused of sexually assaulting two minor girls at Northern Minnesota in 2004. He was charged in a US court in 2007. But by 2005, Jayapaul had returned to India to be with his ailing mother.

The Interpol had approached the additional chief metropolitan magistrate court in New Delhi to secure the priest. The court sent a warrant to the Erode police to arrest the priest on the basis of which police arrested the Jayapaul on Friday.

A team led by Erode district Armed Reserve Police Reserve inspector Kajendran and seven others took Jayapaul to New Delhi on Friday night by train. According to sources, they will reach New Delhi on Sunday morning and Jayapaul will be produced in court the same day.