Kochi, October 3: The Kerala High Court today rejected the bail application of Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar who is in a sub jail on charges of raping a nun.
The top court in the southern Indian state said it could not grant bail to the bishop at this juncture.
A Catholic nun has accused the bishop of subjecting her to sexual abuse multiple times between May 2014 and September 2016. The High Court was told that the police probe into the nun’s complaint is in its crucial stage. The court accepted the prosecution contention that Bishop Mulakkal is a person of influence and granting bail at this stage would hamper the investigation.
Justice V. Raja Vijayaraghavan observed the existence of evidences against the bishop.
The prosecution presented three police complaints where the bishop or his friends had allegedly tried to influence the witnesses in the case. The court observed that it took such complaints seriously.
The court ruled that it could not grant bail to the bishop taking into account the preliminary evaluation of the documents. Moreover, the court decided to record the statements of seven persons, including the nuns secretly.
Bishop Mulakkal was arrested on September 21 after three days of questioning and on September 24 Judge M. Lekshmi of Pala Judicial Magisterial Court sent him to two-week judicial custody.
He is the first prelate in the country to be sent to jail on charges of rape.
Source: mathrubhumi.com