Pathanamthitta: The Supreme Court reserved the verdict in the anticipatory bail plea of the first and fourth accused in the case where four priests of the Malankara Orthodox order were accused of blackmailing and raping a woman parishioner at Kottayam.

The court, which heard the pleas in-camera but videotaped the proceedings, had extended protection to first accused Father Abraham Varghese, alias Sony, and fourth accused Father Jaise K George till the court ruled on their bail pleas.

Earlier in the day, the Magistrate Court at Thiruvalla had rejected the bail pleas of two priests who are already in custody.

The court declined to grant the two arrested priests any reprieve in the sensational case that exposed the gut-wrenching abuse of a woman over several years, including by the priest to whom she had made a confession that he used to blackmail her.

Father Job Mathew and Father Johnson V Mathew, were further remanded to judicial custody. Both are currently lodged in the Pathanamthitta district jail. Their advocates are planning to move the High Court for relief.

The crime branch has submitted in the court against granting the duo any reprieve and has requested they be alowed to arrest the priests for interrogation.

On Thursday Father Abraham Varghese posted a video on the internet mounting insults on the victim.

According to reports in Manorama News the source of the video is being probed and the accused can be seen claiming that the vicitm's mother had  earlier said that she was of a 'loose character'.    

The National Commission for Women is monitoring the case. One of the priests escaped action as the victim had mentioned only four names, according to the police.

A story of abuse that was buried for years

The case came to light after the abused woman's husband, who learnt about the travails his wife had to silently endure for years, came out in the public and filed a case against the priests.

The woman had reportedly confessed to the main accused about how she was raped by a senior priest in the same order shortly before the baptism ceremony of her elder son. The priest blackmailed her with the confession and sought sexual favours from her. She soon landed in a vicious circle of abuse involving multiple priests and continued to endure the torture for years.

She later confessed to her husband who confronted her about a hotel bill in her inbox.