Congregation of Christian Brothers to probe allegation of

The Congregation of Christian Brothers in India, a religious community within the Catholic Church, Tuesday said it will initiate an inquiry to ascertain the truth, after one of their senior members got mired in a #Metoo controversy.

The Professional Ethics Commission of the community assured action against accused Brother Francis Gale if found guilty.

"Due procedure will be initiated as laid out in our policy - safeguarding children and vulnerable adults - to take this serious allegation forward towards arriving at the truth and assisting the survivor with necessary help to attain due closure," the Commission's protection officer J Johnson said in a statement here.

 

He said the commission looks into all cases of abuse to find out the truth while taking appropriate action against the alleged abuser if found guilty.

As part of the ongoing #Metoo campaign, a woman had last week accused Gale of sexually abusing her when he was serving at the St Edmund's School here. He is in West Bengal at present.

The victim had alleged that Gale started abusing her since she was five-years-old and the abuse continued till she turned 12. She finally managed to "muster enough courage" to refuse meeting him as she was afraid of getting pregnant.

While the 40-year-old victim has also named Brother Muscat of the Salesians of Don Bosco, another society under the Catholic Church, the society refused to speak on the matter.

"We have already spoken to the state police and have nothing to say at the moment," a senior member of the society told PTI.

The State Commission for Women has urged the victim to file a formal complaint against the accused persons.

"It would be advisable if the victim files a formal FIR so that the legal framework can be activated to its optimum," the Chairperson of Meghalaya State Commission for Women, Theilin Phanbuh, said.

She said that she would soon discuss the issue with other members of the Commission to decide whether to take suo motu action or not.

"The victim must file a FIR. It will definitely add teeth to the case and give ample space for a thorough investigation by relevant agencies of the government," the Chairperson of the Meghalaya State Commission for Protection of Child Rights Meena Kharkongor said.