05-03-2007, 05:23 AM
<b>Scandal at Christian retreat centre </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->After preliminary investigations, police have now registered a case against the retreat centre on charges of cheating, forceful confinement, causing hurt by poison and dangerous weapons, and destruction of evidence.
âBased on the investigations we have registered a case against the main people from the Divine Retreat Centre. The FIR is now ready and we will press for all relevant sections of the IPC against the management in the High Court,â says S I of Police, Koratty, K J Martin.
<b>Police claim that close to 975 mysterious deaths took place at the retreat centre between 1996 and 2006. On many occasions the bodies were reportedly disposed of without informing the police</b>.
And documents were allegedly forged to make them look like natural deaths. But the retreat centre says all such allegations are baseless.
âThere is no such activity inside the centre as alleged by the police or by those people who want to malign us. We are here only to serve the poor,â says director, Divine Retreat Centre, Father George Panackal.
The retreat centre was also in the news after <b>a devotee wrote an anonymous letter to the Kerala High Court reportedly complaining about criminal activities including rape and murder at the retreat centre.</b>
That's when the court took notice and formed the investigating team. Lakhs of Christian devotees visit the retreat centre every year.
<b>The Divine Retreat Centre claims to be the largest Catholic healing centre in the world. Clearly, there's more at stake here than just reputations</b>
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âBased on the investigations we have registered a case against the main people from the Divine Retreat Centre. The FIR is now ready and we will press for all relevant sections of the IPC against the management in the High Court,â says S I of Police, Koratty, K J Martin.
<b>Police claim that close to 975 mysterious deaths took place at the retreat centre between 1996 and 2006. On many occasions the bodies were reportedly disposed of without informing the police</b>.
And documents were allegedly forged to make them look like natural deaths. But the retreat centre says all such allegations are baseless.
âThere is no such activity inside the centre as alleged by the police or by those people who want to malign us. We are here only to serve the poor,â says director, Divine Retreat Centre, Father George Panackal.
The retreat centre was also in the news after <b>a devotee wrote an anonymous letter to the Kerala High Court reportedly complaining about criminal activities including rape and murder at the retreat centre.</b>
That's when the court took notice and formed the investigating team. Lakhs of Christian devotees visit the retreat centre every year.
<b>The Divine Retreat Centre claims to be the largest Catholic healing centre in the world. Clearly, there's more at stake here than just reputations</b>
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