Kottayam: The investigation team probing the alleged sexual abuse of a nun by a Catholic bishop will be summoning bishop Franco Mulakkal of the Jalandhar diocese to Kerala for interrogation. The bishop will be served notice in this regard this soon.
The decision came after the police team confirmed that as per the visitors’ book in the convent, the bishop stayed in the convent in the days as alleged in the complaint filed by the nun. The notice will be served only after recording the statement of the nun under Section 164 in the Code of Criminal Procedure. The chief judicial magistrate court in Kottayam considered the application of the police regarding this on Monday and assigned the Changanassery judicial magistrate to record the statement.
Meanwhile, the investigation team under Vaikom Deputy Superindent of Police, K Subash took the statement of other nuns residing in the convent. The team met four of the nuns and the statement of the remaining two will be recorded in the coming days. According to Subash, the four nuns whom the police spoke had knowledge about the alleged abuse from what the survivor had told them. She had also given the complaint to various church heads, including the cardinal, with the knowledge of these four nuns.
The complaint of the bishop is also being probed along with the nun’s complaint. Based on the bishop’s complaint, police recorded the statement of one person.
source: Times of India