By Matters India Reporter
Palai, May 10, 2019: Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar, who has been accused of raping a nun, was given extension of bail by a court in Kerala, southern India.
Bishop Mulakkal, who appeared before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Palai in Kottayam district on May 10, was handed over a copy of the chargesheet and related documents.
The court also agreed to the 55-year-old prelate’s plea to extend his bail. It has posted the case for further hearing on June 7.
The bishop’s court appearance marks the beginning of the trial against him for allegedly raping a nun 13 times between 2014 and 2016.
Bishop Mulakkal came to the court around 10:20 am accompanied by at least 12 priests, several women and his family members. Bishop Mulakkal began the day first praying at St Alphonsa Pilgrim center in Bharananganam, 6 km southeast of Palai. He presented a diary at the saint’s tomb that reportedly contained details he was to present to the court.
The court had summoned the prelate, a native of Kerala’s Thrissur district, on the basis of the chargesheet that the Special Investigation Team headed by Kottayam Superintendent of Police Harisankar filed on April 9.
The chargesheet that runs over 2,000 pages contains statements and testimonies from 84 eyewitnesses, including Syro Malabar Major Archbishop Cardinal George Alencherry, Bishops Joseph Kallarangatt of Palai, Kurian Valiakandathil of Bhagalpur and Sebastian Vadakel of Ujjain.
It also quotes three bishops, 11 priests and 24 nuns.
The case will be tried at the Principal Sessions Court in Kottayam, 27 km southwest of Palai. The bishop may receive another summons to appear before the trial court.
The bishop faces charges under several sections of the Indian Penal Code. They include wrongful confinement, raping a woman by a man who has dominance over her, sexual intercourse by a person in authority, and carnal Intercourse against the order of nature with the victim without consent and by criminally intimidating the victim with threats.
Bishop Mulakkal has repeatedly denied the charges and accused the nun of exacting revenge on him for ordering an inquiry into a complaint against her. He has filed a complaint against the complainant and five other nuns, accusing them of framing him. The prelate also claims that the evidence collected by the police has “several contradictions.”
He became the first Catholic bishop in India to be arrested on a rape charge on September 21, 2018. But the Kerala High Court granted him bail 25 days later on the condition that he should surrender his passport to the court and that he should not enter Kerala.
The began on June 27, 2018, when the former superior general of the Missionaries of Jesus filed a police complaint alleging Bishop Mulakkal had raped her repeatedly at their convent in Kuravilangad, 17 km northwest of Palai.
The diocesan congregation under Latin rite is based in Punjab’s Jalandhar town but manages one more convent in Kerala, besides the Kuravilangad center.