By Matters India Reporter

Kochi, Nov 19, 2019: Five Catholic nuns who in 2018 made international headlines by demanding the arrest of an “abusive” bishop have taken their concern for justice outside the Church walls.

The Missionaries of Jesus sisters November 18 extended their solidarity to a collective that fights for justice for two girls found hanging in the home in Walayar, a small town in Palakkad district located on the border regions of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The village has become the nerve center of a massive protest for justice after a special court for POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) recently acquitted four people booked for allegedly raping and murdering the two girls.

The 13-year-old elder girl was found hanging in her house on January 13, 2017. The incident was reported as an unnatural death but the police filed a first information report. Her 9-year-old sister was also found dead in similar circumstances a few months later.

The post mortem report of both sisters proved the possibility that they had undergone sexual assault. Responding to the protests the Kerala police investigated the case. The First Additional Sessions Judge’s verdict shocked many in Kerala.

The cited reason was the failure of the prosecution to produce sufficient “scientific evidence” against the suspects. The police have been criticized for shoddy investigation that led to the acquittal of the suspects.

Joining the Justice for Walayar Kids Forum, Sister Anupama Kelamangalathuveli, spokesperson of the five nuns, said: “The perpetrators and accused should be brought before the law and should be given maximum punishment. It is our moral responsibility to let this incident be the last of its kind in the state.”

The forum staged a ‘Rappakal Samaram’ (day-night protest) on November 18-19 in Kochi, Kerala’s commercial capital, to demand a probe into Walayar case and immediate sacking of the police officers who investigated the matter.

The protest was jointly declared by Sister Anupama and team, writer Sarah Joseph, Pembilai Orumai (women’s collective) leader Gomathi Augustine, K Aravindakshan, a professor, and Dalit activist K M Salim Kumar.

Sarah Joseph alleged that the police had “consciously conspired for the acquittal of the accused persons” despite getting serious shreds of evidence.

The police allegedly ignored the evidences because of the accused person’s links with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) that now heads Kerala’s Left Front government.

“It is very unbecoming of the Left government to handle the case like this. Their women wings like All India Democratic Women’s Association and Child Welfare Committees (CWC) have become muted spectators these days,” she bemoaned.

Augustine wants the public to continue the fight until the high echelons of judiciary respond to the injustice. She wondered about the absence of women who came out in hundreds of thousands in 2018 to form a Women’s Wall to protect women’s rights.

“Don’t they feel like responding after witnessing these heinous murders? Despite being a literate state, it is a shame to say that the culprits are roaming in daylight in Kerala,” she added.

Sister Anupama said they joined the protest to encourage those fighting for justice for sex abuse victims. She recalled with gratitude the support the nuns received for from communities for their sit-in before Kerala High Court in September 2018.

The nuns had demanded the arrest of Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Mulakkal, who is scheduled to stand trial from November 30, for allegedly raping their former superior general multiple times between 2014 and 2016.