Police register case in Fr Bernard's death

Orissa police has registered a murder case in connection with the death of a Catholic priest on October 28, last month, in Chennai.

Father Bernard Digal was a victim of the Orissa carnage, beaten mercilessly by an angry mob avenging the murder of a VHP leader in Kandhamal.

Police had apparently registered a case after Vicar General of Archbishop Joseph Kalathil filed an FIR in the Kharavel Nagar police station last week.

Police filed the case under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to kill), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapons), 149 (unlawful assembly), 436 (mischief by fire) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.

Father Kalathil alleged in the police complaint that Digal had gone to Shankarakhole in Kandhamal for official work when he was attacked and injured in the head by persons armed with iron bars and sharp weapons on August 25.

The Christian prelate was on October 25 taken to St Thomas Hospital in Chennai, where doctors operated on him to remove a blood clot from his brain, caused by the beating on the night he was attacked. It was three days later; his body gave out, despite a respirator to keep him alive.