Kerala Nun Rape Case: SIT Files Chargesheet Against Franco Mulakkal

The nun had accused Mulakkal, then Bishop of Jalandhar diocese, of having raped her multiple times between 2014 and 2016.

Thiruvananthapuram: A Special Investigation Team of Kerala Police on Tuesday filed a chargesheet against Franco Mulakkal, the accused in Kerala nun rape case.

Mulakkal, a former Bishop of the Jalandhar diocese, was arrested in September last year but was let out on bail. Reports say that four nuns had met the Kottayam Superintendent of Police last month over the delay in action against Mulakkal. They had reportedly said that they ‘lived in extreme fear”.

There have also been reports of attempts by the Church to transfer them since they had sought action against Mulakkal. One of the nuns, Sister Anupama, had said, “There was an attempt to transfer all of us to various parts of the country and isolate the complainant nun. We want the chargesheet to be filed as soon as possible to ensure the safety of the witnesses.”

Mulakkal is accused of raping the nun 14 times between 2014 and 2016. Father Kuriakose Kattuthara, who had deposed against Mulakkal, was found dead at a church in Hoshiarpur’s Dasuya in October last year.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) had also written to Kerala Chief Minister Pinaryi Vijayan requesting him to “take prompt action to ensure prevention of sabotage of material evidence and witnesses in the pending case against rape accused Franco Mulakkal, so that justice may prevail.”

An NGO named Save Our Sisters (SOS) had also written to the CM and demanded immediate action to forestall the transfer order of the nuns who protested against Mulakkal. The letter said, “The rape survivor & the other five nuns who supported her in the case against Bishop Franco Mulakkal are facing an imminent threat of being separated & sent away from Kerala by the Missionaries of Jesus.”