A Syro Malabar Church priest, who was recently booked by the Madhya Pradesh police for sharing a post on Manipur violence in social media died by suicide on September 14, Thursday. Police had booked Fr Anil Francis, a manager in St Alphonsa Academy at Garhakota in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh, a month ago for sharing the post on Manipur violence in a WhatsApp group. Representatives of Sagar diocese have alleged that the priest was under tension and pressure over the FIR lodged against him alleging insult to the national flag.
Fr Anil had reached the Bishop’s House in Sagar on Wednesday, September 13, to attend a prayer meeting to be held on Thursday. However he went missing. His body was later found. A suicide note has been found. “A month ago he had posted a message related to the Manipur issue, which also had India’s national flag. A former student from Udaipura, where he worked as a principal for six years, along with members of Sangh Parivar groups, saw his WhatsApp post and filed a criminal defamation complaint stating that he insulted the national flag,” Fr Jose Malekudy, Judicial Vicar, Sagar diocese, told TNM.
“That post did not have anything against the national flag. Even the police were not ready to register the case, but they were pressured by certain groups. But no further actions were taken in the case,” the priest said.
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