In a controversial development, the Supreme Court of India, under a Bench led by CJI BR Gavai, suspended Pigarez’s POCSO sentence of 20 years for the repeated sexual assault of a minor.
Father Edwin Pigarez, a Catholic priest from Kerala, was convicted for the repeated sexual assault of a 14-year-old student of class 8th between 2014 and 2015 at his church in Ernakulam. He took advantage of the child’s trust, subjecting her to sexual assaults on multiple occasions, during confession sessions and under the guise of music lessons. After the crimes came to light through the victim’s mother, he absconded, remaining on the run for nearly 8 months before police apprehended him.
The trial led to Father Pigarez being convicted by a special POCSO court. The Kerala High Court, upon review in 2024, upheld the conviction under the POCSO Act for 20 years of rigorous imprisonment.
The SC bench, comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran, justified the suspension by noting that Pigarez had already served nearly 10 years in prison.
