Ex-Bishop Franco Mulakkal acquitted in Kerala nun rape case: Look back at the incident which rocked Catholic Church

The Additional District and Sessions Court in Kottayam on Friday acquitted Bishop Franco Mulakkal of the Catholic Church in the nun rape case.

In June 2018, the Catholic Church in India was rocked by allegations when a nun filed a complaint before the Kottayam District Police Chief, alleging that Mulakkal, who was the head of the Jalandhar diocese in Punjab, had raped her 13 times between the years of 2014 and 2016.

Take a look at who Franco Mulakkal is and what the case was all about.

Bishop Franco Mulakkal

Franco Mulakkal was ordained for priesthood at St Thomas Forane Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, Mattom, Thrissur, Kerala on 21 April 1990.

In 2009, he was appointed as the auxiliary bishop of the Latin rite Catholic Archdiocese of Delhi and titular bishop of Chullu on 17 January 2009.

In June of 2013, Franco Mulakkal was appointed the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar.

Franco Mulakkal became the first Catholic bishop in India to be arrested for sexually assaulting a nun.

Rape allegations against Mulakkal

The Kuravilangad police on 29 June, 2018 registered a case on the basis of a complaint filed by a 43-year-old nun against Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar Diocese.

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According to the complaint, the nun was raped several times between 2014 and 2016 by the bishop at the Missionaries of Jesus convent.

Subsequently, a Special Investigation Team was formed to look into the case and arrested Mulakkal on 22 September 2018 and charged under Sections 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 376 (2)(k), 376(2)(n) (rigorous imprisonment for not less than 10 years), 376 C(a) (intercourse by the superintendent of remand home etc), 377 (unnatural offences) and 506(ii) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

In the meantime, the Vatican temporarily relieved him of his pastoral responsibilities. “The Holy Father has received the request of Rt Rev Bishop Franco Mulakkal to be temporarily relieved of his pastoral responsibilities in the Diocese of Jullundur,” the Catholic Bishop Conference of India had said in a statement in September 2020.

The action came after Franco Mulakkal had written to Pope Francis requesting permission to step down temporarily as the bishop or head of the Diocese of Jalandhar, saying he needed to spend more time to fight his case.

According to Bar&Bench, the trial began in September 2020 but at the request of Mulakkal’s counsel, the court had restrained the print and electronic media from publishing any matter relating to the trial.

And today, after almost 100 days, he was acquitted of the crimes. It has been reported that Mulakkal said, “Praise the Lord,” after the verdict was readout.

Other allegations against Mulakkal

While facing rape allegations, another nun also made similar accusations against Mulakkal. In February 2020, a 35-year-old nun alleged that her chats with the then Bishop in 2015 had gradually turned sexual in nature, leaving her ‘disgusted, averse and causing mental agony’.

In a statement to the police, she had said, “The Bishop continued with sexual remarks.. and started making video calls with description about his and my body parts… Because he was the Bishop of the diocese, I could not tell anything against it. Even though I was not interested in sex chatting, due to fear of the Bishop’s displeasure and being ousted from the church, I did not object.”

She further alleged that in 2017 when she was sent to Kerala as a punishment, Bishop Franco Mulakkal came to the convent late at night, made her sit in a chair in his room. She added that the two spoke for nearly two hours. “As I was leaving the room, Bishop hugged me and kissed me on the forehead. I felt disgusted. And next the Bishop left,” she said.

With inputs from agencies

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