Bishop Kannikadass Antony William of Mysore resigned on Jan. 13, his sister registered complaint with police in Karnataka
A police case has been registered against a retired Indian archbishop and six priests for posing a threat to the life of a bishop who quit this month.
Police in southern Karnataka state have launched a probe against retired Archbishop Leo Cornelio of Bhopal and six diocesan priests based on a complaint by the younger sister of Bishop Kannikadass Antony William of Mysore who resigned on Jan. 13.
Father A. Rohan from Mysore diocese, one of the accused, denied the allegation “as baseless and fabricated.”
“We are ready to join any probe as we do not have anything to hide,” he said.
Some of us were at the forefront to expose the “illegal deeds of Bishop William,” noted Rohan.
In her complaint registered with Narasimharaja Police on Jan. 19, the sister who calls herself "Mary Help of Christians," said there was a serious threat to the life of her brother from the people she named and sought a probe.
“Except Archbishop Cornelio, we all visited the police station on Jan. 23,” Rohan told UCA News on Jan. 26.
The Vatican accepted the resignation of the 58-year-old William, who was accused of murder, rape, and misappropriation of funds.
The Vatican, however, has made it clear that it accepted the resignation due to “the distressing situation” in the diocese rather than as a punishment for the charges leveled against him.
Archbishop Cornelio headed a three-member Vatican panel that examined the charges against William following complaints from priests in the diocese.
William's sister claimed that the accused priests and the archbishop conspired to kill her brother. But William would not file a police complaint as he is a religious person. Thus, she had to do it.
William headed the Mysore diocese in southern Karnataka from February 2017 to January 2023 until he was asked to “take a period of absence from the ministry.”
In the complaint, his sister has quoted a more than one-hour-long video titled, "Conspiracy to kill Bishop K Anthony William of Mysore Diocese," by Father Gnanaprakash and Team.
The video posted on YouTube has extensive voice clips of the accused priests and Cornelio discussing William.
The conversations pose a potential threat to the life of my brother, she alleged in the complaint.
“Our voice clips used in the video are doctored and we filed a complaint with the police cyber cell on Jan. 13, seeking a probe,” Rohan said.
The video was in circulation from the first week of January.
“Why did she take at least a fortnight to register the complaint?” asked the priest.
“It is yet another conspiracy by the former bishop to target those who opposed his evil and illegal actions,” the priest alleged.
It is not clear who is behind the video, Rohan said.
The case mainly rests on the video.
“If the video is found to be doctored the charges against the archbishop and the priests will not have any legal base,” said a senior police official, associated with the probe.