By Matters India Reporter
Kottayam: A court in Kerala on September 22 sent Bishop Franco Mulakkal, to police custody for two days, after rejecting his bail application.
The 54-year-old prelate was arrested a day earlier in an alleged sexual abuse case.
A Catholic nun on June 28 complained to police that Mulakkal, who is the patron of her Missionaries of Jesus congregation, had subjected her to rape and unnatural sex 13 times between May 2014 and September 2016.
The prelate has denied the charges and alleged that the nun was upset over disciplinary actions against her. He also denied visiting the nun’s convent in Kuravilangad in Kerala where the crimes happened.
Police in its remand report stated that Mulakkal had come to the convent with the intention of sexually assaulting the victim. On May 5, 2014, he illegally confined her in room number 20 of the guest house and subjected her to unnatural sexual assault. The police said he raped the nun the next day.
Earlier, the Kerala Police filed for three days custody of the arrested prelate. Lawyer of Mulakkal didn’t oppose the custody.
Mulakkal, who was arrested after three days of questioning, reportedly tried put on a bold face when he was produced before a local court in the town of Palai in Kottayam. He was seen with a smile throughout the hearing. He was booed by locals while being taken out of the court by the police. He had a smile on his face even while he sat inside the police van.
The bishop’s lawyer insisted before the court that police shouldn’t be allowed to take his blood and saliva samples without his permission. The lawyer said there are chances that the samples will be misused.
Mulakkal was admitted to a government hospital in Kottayam on September 21 night, after he complained of chest pain. He was discharged following morning.
The nun in Kerala, in her late 40s, alleged that she was sexually abused by Franco Mulakkal 13 times between 2014 and 2016 during his visits to a convent in Kottayam district.
Amid outrage and protests over the sexual assault allegations, the Kerala government had assured the probe by the Special Investigation Team was proceeding in the “right direction” and that justice will be done.