The Mangaluru police have arrested Siprian Pinto, the priest at St. Vincent Ferrar Church in Valencia in Mangaluru, for alleged aggravated sexual assault on five 14-year-old boys.
Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy said Siprian Pinto was arrested at the house of his relatives. The police will produce him before the magistrate after interrogation and completion of procedures.
In the complaint before the Mangaluru South police on the night of October 15, one of the victims, a 14-year-old boy, said Mr. Pinto gave him a chocolate and said he loved the boy’s smile. He then took the boy to a room in the church and inappropriately touched the rear part of the boy’s body.
On his subsequent visits to the church for prayers, Mr. Pinto has touched his private parts in the front. On the evening of August 14, Mr. Pinto called the victim to the receptionist room, hugged the boy and inappropriately put his hands inside the boy’s undergarments.
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The victim told about this conduct of Mr. Pinto before his four 14-year-old friends, who told him that they too have experienced the same.
The victim said he narrated the sexual harassment to his parents, and they all went to the Mangaluru Bishop. On his instructions, he was giving the complaint, the boy said.
The complaint was registered for offences under Sections 8 (sexual assault) and 9 (aggravated sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and Section 75(2) (sexual harassment) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Published - October 18, 2026 05:32 pm IST