Jalandhar Bishop arrested

PTI

KOCHI

Bishop  Franco Mulakkal, a senior member of the Roman Catholic clergy in India,  was arrested Friday night amid mounting public outrage over allegations  of repeatedly raping and sexually assaulting a nun, police said. 

He was arrested by Kerala police after intense interrogation over the last three days. 

The development came a day after the Vatican relieved him  “temporarily” of all pastoral responsibilities as the bishop of the  Jalandhar diocese of the Missionaries of Jesus congregation to which the  alleged victim also belongs. 

The nun had accused the 54-year old clergyman of repeatedly raping and having unnatural sex with her between 2014 and 2016. 

 Inspector General of Police (Kochi Range) Vijay Sakhare told PTI  that the arrest was recorded at 8 pm and the bishop would be produced in  a magistrate court in Pala in Kottayam district Saturday. 

 Mulakkal, who had been coming for the interrogation in the bishop  attire, was taken to Tripunithura government taluk hospital in civil  dress for medical examination and later to Kottayam. 

 People gathered there booed the bishop as he was being escorted out of the hospital. 

 Earlier, Kottayam district police chief Hari Sankar told reporters  that the bishop has been slapped with charges, including rape, illegal  confinement, unnatural sex and intimidation. 

There were evidences to arrive at a reasonable suspicion that the clerygyman had committed the crime, he said. 

 During the interrogation, the accused was given reasonable time to narrate his version to the investigating team, he said. 

 The SP said the police will seek three day custody of Mulakkal. Potency test of the priest will be done, he added. 

Members of various 

Christian reformation organisations as also the  nuns of the Missionaries of Jesus, who were staging a protest close to  the Kerala High Court premises for the last 13 days for the bishop’s  arrest, erupted with joy as the news broke. 

 Fr Augustine Vattoli, Convenor of the Save our Sisters (SOS) Action  Council, which spearheaded the protest, called off the hunger-strike. 

 The five nuns who were taking part in the protest welcomed the  arrest of the bishop and said they would end their agitation for the  time being. 

 They hastened to add that justice would not be done simply because of the arrest. 

 “Clear legal steps should also be taken to deliver justice. Law  should take its correct course”, a fellow nun of the survivor nun said. 

 The nuns said they would continue their struggle till “complete justice” was done in the case. 

 They said in view of the arrest, more nuns were likely to come forward to complain against the bishop. 

 “More evidences are likely to come to fore as he is arrested now.  Our struggle was not only for the victimised nun. It was for seeking  justice for all women victims who were crying for justice”, the nun  said. 

In her complaint to Kottayam police in June, the nun had alleged  that Bishop Mulakkal raped her at a guest house in Kuravilangad in May  2014 and later sexually exploited her on several occasions. She said she  had to approach police as the church authorities did not act on her  repeated complaints against the clergyman. 

Earlier this month, she wrote to the Vatican’’s representative in  New Delhi, alleging that the bishop was using “political and money  power” to “bury” the case and seeking his removal. 

The sleaze scandal got murkier when the bishop too filed a complaint  against the nun, claiming he was being blackmailed by her for not  extending her favours. 

Outrage over the delay in the top clergyman’s arrest, meanwhile,  grew. The protests by Christian reformation organisations escalated  after some nuns of the religious order came out of the confines of their  convent and joined the agitation. 

As pressure mounted on police for action against Mulakkal, it asked  him to present himself before the Special Investigation Team on  September 19. 

A day ahead of his scheduled appearance, Mulakkal filed an  anticipatory bail petition in the Kerala High Court claiming allegations  against him were a “cooked up story to wreak vengeance”. 

In his petition, Mulakkal said he was “absolutely innocent” and was  “falsely implicated” with an “ulterior motive and vexatious intention”. 

Mulakkal alleged that the nun had an illicit relationship with a  relative and a complaint about it was received by her congregation. 

“This crucial aspect needs to be considered along with the complaint  made by her own cousin alleging the de facto complainant of having  illicit relationship with her husband. 

“This crucial aspect casts serious suspicion on the credibility of  the allegations raised by the de facto complainant,” Mulakkal said in  his plea before the high court, which was to hear it on September 25. 

 Citing convention, some legal experts had said the bishop was  unlikely to be arrested as his pre-arrest bail plea was pending before  the high court. However, since there was no legal bar on his arrest  during the pendency of the petition, the police went ahead and detained  him.

Sad moment for Church: CBCI 

PANAJI: Describing latest developments in Bishop Franco Mulakkal’s  case as a “sad moment” for the church, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference  of India said it expected the law to take its course and for the truth  to emerge. 

In a press statement issued on Friday, CBCI President Cardinal  Oswald Gracias said: “We have learnt from the media about the  developments in Bishop Franco Mulakkal’s case.” 

“It is a sad moment for all of us. We pray for all involved: Bishop  Franco, the nun concerned, the diocese of Jalandhar and the Congregation  of the Missionaries of Jesus.” 

“We have full confidence in the judicial system of our country. As  said before, we expect the law to take its course and for the truth to  emerge. At this moment, our prayer is for healing,” Cardinal Gracias  added.