Kerala nun rape case: Bishop Franco Mulakkal's bail extended

Franco Mulakkal's bail was extended by a Kerala court today. Bishop Mulakkal, a senior member of the Roman Catholic clergy in India, was arrested last year following allegations by a nun that he repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted her at the Kuravilangad convent.

Kottayam (Kerala):A court here on Saturday extended the bail of former Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused of sexually assaulting a nun between 2014 and 2016, till January 6.

Franco was present in the additional sessions court during the hearing, where he arrived after praying in a nearby church. The Kerala Police has already filed a 1,400-page chargesheet in the court against him. The trial is expected to start from January 6.

The chargesheet names 83 witnesses, including the Cardinal of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, Mar George Alencherry, three bishops, 11 priests and many nuns. After the case came to light, Mulakkal was removed as head of the diocese of Jalandhar.

Bishop Mulakkal, a senior member of the Roman Catholic clergy in India, was arrested last year following allegations by a nun that he repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted her at the Kuravilangad convent between 2014 and 2016, a charge he denied.

The nun, who belongs to Missionaries of Jesus congregation under Jalandhar diocese, had accused the 55-year-old clergyman of repeatedly raping and having unnatural sex with her between 2014 and 2016.

He allegedly committed the offence when he was the Bishop of the Jalandhar diocese. He has been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 376C (sexual intercourse by person in authority), section 377 (unnatural sex) and 506(1) (criminal threat), official sources said.

In her complaint to police in June, the nun had alleged that Mulakkal raped her at a guest house in Kuravilangad in May 2014 and later sexually exploited her on several occasions.

Read: Teacher arrested for molesting minors in Kerala