Kerala nun rape case: Pala Judicial Magisterial Court extends accused Franco Mulakkal's judicial custody till 20 October

Pala: A Kerala court on Saturday extended the judicial custody of Franco Mulakkal, who was arrested on the charge of raping a nun repeatedly between 2014 and 2016, till 20 October. Mulakkal, after undergoing a routine medical check up, was produced before Judge M Lekshmi of the Pala Judicial Magisterial Court who extended his judicial custody for another two weeks. [caption id=“attachment_5243031” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Franco Mulakkal. Reuters[/caption] Mulakkal was arrested on 21 September after three days of questioning and on 24 September, he was sent to two weeks judicial custody by the very same court. The entire proceedings took around five minutes and he informed the court that he had no problems in the Pala sub-jail, where he has been kept since he was remanded. However his counsel informed the media that in the coming week, they will approach the Kerala High Court again seeking bail. On 3 October, the Kerala High Court denied Mulakkal’s bail plea as Justice V Raja Vijayaraghavan observed that there was evidence against him. Mulakkal, who heads the Roman Catholic Diocese in Jalandhar, Punjab, is the first bishop in the country to be sent to jail on charges of rape and since then he has been getting a steady stream of high profile visitors including leading politicians.