By Matters India Reporter
Kottayam, Jan 14, 2022: A court in Kerala on January 14 acquitted Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar in the nun rape case.
Judge G Gopakumar of the Additional Sessions District Court said the bishop has been let free for want of evidence.
Bishop Mulakkal left the court premises immediately after the verdict was announced. “Praise the Lord,” he said as he went out of the courtroom.
The verdict came after 105 days of trial.
Bishop Mulakkal was brought to the court by 9:30 am. He arrived with his brother and brother-in-law and entered the court through the back door.
The administration has deployed police force around the court premises under the guidance of the Deputy Superintendent of Police Kottayam.
Bomb and dog squads inspected the courtroom. Barricades were positioned on the court’s compound.
The rape case against the Bishop was registered by police in Kottayam district on June 27, 2018.
Mulakkal was arrested September 21, 2018, and sent to jail in Palai in Kottayam.
He was released on bail on October 15, 2018.
The alleged rape survivor, a former superior general of the Missionaries of Jesus, had alleged that Bishop Mulakkal had subjected to sexual abuse at least 13 times between 2014 and 2016.
A day before his arrest, the Vatican had accepted Bishop Mulakkal’s request to relieve him from his duties until the case is over and appointed a diocesan administrator.
The Special Investigation Team which probed the case arrested the Bishop and charged him with wrongful confinement, rape, unnatural sex and criminal intimidation.
The charge sheet named 84 witnesses, including Cardinal George Alencherry, the head of the Syro-Malabar Church. Only 39 witnesses, including the cardinal and two bishops, were called and heard in the court.
Money can buy the dead and Franco, just proved it. A battery of powerful lawyer and advisor with church money for the accused. Humiliation and funding for the nuns. The Vatican reports about the poor living conditions and abuse of nuns.
Nobody raped none.
May be another saint in making. We can have novena and flag hoisting for the rape saint.
I agree with chhotebhai. Both bishop and the alleged victim have to be fired from their respective positions and they should return to civilian life.
Money well spent. His supporters will have him beatitude soon. This will help those who want extra marital relationships a powerful mediator. A great day wii be. The victim got no justice. Her humiliation brought nothing for her. She has been denied justice
A very shocking judgment indeed! If the Judges are so blind to the sexual violence to the women where the Judge seek for evidence, how horrible it is. Is there any sexual violence which leave evidence? The rapist is a man and after raping a woman, he can clean himself very well but the victim is only the evidence, does not the judge know it?
This incident of so-called bishop Mulakkal, who is a professional rapist, how the judge did not realize it? Like a professional killer, a professional rapist will keep no evidence of his crime, does not the judge know it> This incident will encourage the bishops and priests and even the ordinary men to rape women keeping “no evidence” and remain above the law of the country and the women will be continued being raped and oppressed. How terrible it is!
Church has money power to change anything they want . Whether he is acquitted or jail once accused by a nun will remain as rapist in front of Public eyes in such a position. He can not deny he was going convent to sleep in the night as reported earlier.Shame to be a Christian !
Someone commented that the Indian Church has purchased the Indian Judicial System. This is very hard to believe because the Church as a minority group has very little political clout. If the Court gave in just as in Ayodhya dispute due to majority community’s immense pressure, we can understand . Moreover, we know about the unjust detention and death of Fr. Stan Swamy in custody despite so many pleas to the government, so many demonstrations etc. The courts are not led by convictions done by misled or motivated TV channels.
Let me quote excerpts from the Indian Express dated 14th January 2022:
QUOTE
S Harisankar, the former Kottayam district police chief under whose leadership the investigation was conducted, described the verdict as “extremely unfortunate”.
“We had fully expected a conviction. This verdict will be a surprise for the entire Indian legal system,” said Harisankar, who is currently posted in the state police headquarters. He said “it was after suffering huge psychological pressure that the survivor disclosed the assault to her fellow nuns” and that the verdict would “send a wrong message to society”.
UNQUOTE
Today’s Indian Express states:
QUOTE
“This is a case in which the grain and chaff are inextricably mixed up. It is impossible to separate the grain from the chaff. There are exaggerations and embellishments in the version of the victim. She has also made every attempt to hide certain facts. It is also evident that the victim was swayed under the influence of others who had other vested interest in the matter,” Kottayam Additional Sessions Judge G Gopakumar wrote in a 289-page order.
“The in-fight and rivalry and group fights of the nuns, and the desire for power, position and control over the congregation is evident from the demand placed by PW1 (Primary Witness) and her supporting nuns who were ready to settle the matter if their demands for a separate region under the diocese of Bihar is accepted by the church,” the order stated, while referring to the complainant.
Referring to a previous judgment delivered by the Supreme Court, Judge Gopakumar stated in the order that “when it is not feasible to separate truth from falsehood, when grain and chaff are inextricably mixed up, the only available course is to discard the evidence in toto”.”
UNQUOTE
The last phrase on “discarding the evidence in toto” appears to be tantamount to throwing the baby with the bathwater. The mystery is yet to unwind.
The following excerpts from the 289 page order speaks a lot not only about the case but also the present state of affairs in the catholic church:
“This is a case in which the grain and chaff are inextricably mixed up. It is impossible to separate the grain from the chaff. There are exaggerations and embellishments in the version of the victim. She has also made every attempt to hide certain facts. It is also evident that the victim was swayed under the influence of others who had other vested interest in the matter,”
“The in-fight and rivalry and group fights of the nuns, and the desire for power, position and control over the congregation is evident from the demand placed by PW1 (Primary Witness) and her supporting nuns who were ready to settle the matter if their demands for a separate region under the diocese of Bihar is accepted by the church,”
Its a BLACK DAY!
AS CATHOLICS ARE HAVING SYNOD MEETINGS…..PLEASE THINK OVER IT. ARE WE REALLY GOING TO CHANGE OUR SYSTEM???
If truth be told, with the widely unexpected acquittal of Franco Mulakkal what is now in the limelight is the Church’s besharamgiri. Celibacy stands mocked. After all, isn’t that precisely how we have surnames like ‘Pope’, ‘Bishop’ and ‘Priestly’ on the international firmament and ‘Swamy’, ‘Guru’ and the like in India?
SHAME ON BOTH THE SUPPOSEDLY HOLY ONES. i.e. the accuser and the accused.
It is now up to the Church Universal, particularly the Church in India, to answer convincingly the queries and insinuations raised by ML Satyan, Melvyn Fernandes and Chhotebhai.
This is a shame! The poor and the downtrodden in this country cannot hope for justice. I pity the poor sisters who supported the victim and fought for her. The church and their congregation will now victimise them.
The charges that he raped her and in confinement etc have been proved wrong. We need to wait and read the full text of the judgement.
It’s a lesson for the religious men and women. Let the religious live the vow chastity.
The full verdict must be made available to the public. Only after reading the judgment, we can comment on the merits of the verdict.
A shocking judgement indeed!
Justice delayed is justice denied!
Is this an example that “money power” has defeated the judiciary? If so, “Asatyameva Jayate” must become reality.
Now the supporters of Franco will proceed to initiate the process to canonize him!?!
The “erring bishops and clergy” will feel encouraged to “do whatever they want”.
The efforts of the laity and the victim nuns to fight against the criminal bishops, seem to be in vain!!
In Tamil there is a proverb – Arasan andru kollum; Deivam nindru kollum” meaning the King punishes instantly but God punishes patiently.
Indian Catholic Church purchased the indian judicial system once again… ???
On what grounds has he been acquitted? If the court held that the repeated sex was consensual then both he and the nun should be removed.