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, 2020.
Franco was present during the hearing in the additional sessions court where he reached after praying in a nearby church.
Mulakkal was arrested on September 21, 2018, on rape charges and got bail on October 16, 2018.
The Kerala Police has already filed a 1,400-page charge sheet in the court against him.
The trial is expected to start from January 6 next year.
The charge sheet 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.
Read:| Kerala nun who protested against rape accused bishop dismissed from church
